He needs to outmatch Captain America

Simply put, Captain America was far too much for Brock Rumlow to handle in their previous encounters in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He was too strong, too fast, too skilled, and too durable for the undercover HYDRA operative.

This time around, in Captain America: Civil War, that needs to change – otherwise Rumlow’s new identity of Crossbones will come across as extremely underwhelming to audiences.

Of course, we fully expect Captain America to do what he always does, and come out on top. But, at least initially, Crossbones needs to display new abilities that put him ahead of Captain America on paper when it comes to their vital statistics.

On to his…how to put this…his “new look”.