Black Panther arguably boasts one of the strongest casts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far — and it looks like one supporting cast member will probably be seen again.
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In a recent interview with Den of Geek, Martin Freeman was asked how he was pitched the role of Everett K. Ross, a character who briefly debuted in Captain America: Civil War. As he revealed, Marvel execs told Freeman that he would reprise his role throughout several MCU films, including Black Panther.
“They did [tell me my character’s future].” Freeman revealed. “They introduced me in Civil War and said there would be a couple of other films, one of which was Black Panther. So that was always on the cards.”
At the moment, there’s no telling what other films Freeman could appear in, although a few interesting possibilities are certainly on fans’ minds. Of course, it would be pretty easy to see Ross in any Black Panther sequels or spinoffs, considering his unique relationship with Wakanda. And considering Ross’ role in the CIA, it doesn’t seem impossible for him to have some sort of cameo role in some of the smaller, America-set MCU films, whether that be Ant-Man and the Wasp or the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. Plus, as one throwaway line in Black Panther revealed, Ross used to be an Air Force pilot, making a cameo in the ’90s-set Captain Marvel a pretty fun possibility.
In a way, Freeman’s role feels somewhat similar to Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson, who served as a sort of “everyman” audience proxy between several Phase One MCU films. And Freeman is wholeheartedly aware of Ross occupying that role, especially within Black Panther.
“Yeah.” Freeman added. “It’s interesting, because I guess part of the big conversation about his film is that finally a different audience are seeing themselves on screen. So in some sense you could say, well, “I’m not that audience.” But regardless of race, my feeling is that Ross is still, he’s like Americans. He’s like America and the West. Whatever color you are, he’s still kind of your eyes and ears in Wakanda because no one’s been to Wakanda. He’s taking you into this other world.”
“If you’re in a cinema in the Western world, you are sort of having the same reaction that Ross is having because we don’t know Wakanda and all our minds would be blown by that.” Freeman continued. “So when you see his mind being blown, then yeah, he’s a sort of surrogate, I guess.”
Black Panther is now in theaters. It will be followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.
