Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Star Martin Freeman Has a New Look for Everett Ross in Set Photos

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently in production, and while Marvel fans are eager to find out how the story will unfold, especially since Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away last year, many of the returning stars from Black Panther have promised “something really special.” One such actor is Martin Freeman, who is coming back to play Everett Ross. Freeman recently called the script “very good,” and was just spotted on set rocking a new look.

The Twitter account @Marvlsmedia posted some set photos of Freeman today, which feature him with a full beard. While we don’t know if Ross was blipped, it does have us thinking about the Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) line, “It’s my Blip beard because I grew it in a Blip,” from Spider-Man: Far From Home. You can check out the photos of Freeman below:

“I had a Zoom call with Ryan Coogler, the director and co-writer about seven or eight weeks ago, I suppose,” Freeman shared back in May. “He sort of meticulously took me through all of my character’s beats in the film. He took me through the film, but incorporating my character’s beats.”

“Some of it was very odd, and I think [Coogler] could see from the reaction on my face to some of the things he was saying,” Freeman added with a laugh. “He kept sort of stopping, and he kept going, ‘Stay with me, but this is going to work.’” When asked if the sequel will live up to the hype, Freeman replied, “I mean, we’ve not done it yet, who knows, we might make it awful, but I’m hoping we won’t … I hope people will be in for a treat.”

In addition to Freeman, the Black Panther sequel will also see the return of Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Letitia Wright, and Angela Bassett.

In another recent interview, Nyong’o praised Coogler’s leadership during these difficult times.

“People will ask me, ‘Are you excited to go back?’ Excitement isn’t the word. I feel like I’m in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. [Chadwick’s] passing is still extremely raw for me,” Nyong’o told Yahoo!. “And I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there… But at the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is expected to hit theaters on July 8, 2022.