5 reasons Everett Ross should be in Black Panther 2

Martin Freeman recently revealed that he’s under the impression that he’ll return as Agent Everett Ross in Black Panther 2. Here are 5 reasons Ross should be brought back for the sequel.

Though very little is known about Black Panther 2, it appears we already have another piece of casting news. Though the movie hasn’t even been officially confirmed yet (it was notably absent from the Phase 4 timeline unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con), Martin Freeman recently told Collider that he believes he’s going to return for the sequel.

Though he may not have royal blood, superpowers, or super-smarts, here are five reasons we think that bringing back Everett Ross for Black Panther 2 is a must.

He acts as the perfect audience stand-in.

Though most audiences are likely very familiar with the people and places of Iron Man, Captain America, and The Avengers, the setting of Black Panther is much more of an unknown quantity. Wakanda is a nation shrouded in mystery to many moviegoers, and many of its inhabitants have yet to be introduced, other than the core cast.

While comic book fans may know their way around the Black Panther universe, most movie audiences aren’t all that familiar with the nuances and details of T’Challa’s world. Enter Everett Ross. Because he’s one of the few outsiders allowed in Wakanda, Ross has very little knowledge of the goings-on in the country — which makes him the perfect character to act as an audience surrogate and ask all sort of questions that would otherwise go unanswered.

He has political connections that can help Wakanda.

In the movies, Everett Ross is an former Air Force pilot and CIA operative. When he first appears in Captain America: Civil War, he’s working with Thaddeus Ross to reign in the Winter Soldier. Due to his status as a government agent, he has high-level security clearances, as well as significant political pull and connections.

Though Wakanda is an incredibly powerful nation, the rest of the world doesn’t know that. Given their preconceived status as a tiny third world nation, Wakanda may need a political ally who can vouch for them and help throw his weight around to give Wakanda the connections it needs. We can’t think of anyone better suited to act as Wakanda’s global ambassador than Everett K. Ross himself.

He brings a unique sense of humor  to the franchise.

It’s no secret that Martin Freeman is a huge comedic talent, and though Ross does come across as more of a buttoned-up government operative in the movies, one of Ross’ primary roles in the comics was to act as comic relief.

Here’s an interesting fact: Did you know that original Black Panther comic writers based Ross’ name and persona off of Chandler Bing from Friends? It may come as a surprise to viewers, but Ross in the comics is largely used for humor, and we think that this funnier side of the character would be a great addition to Black Panther 2.

He serves as a way to connect Wakanda to the rest of the MCU.

As previously mentioned, Wakanda is a very isolated nation, both politically in the world of the story, and also narratively in the MCU as a whole. Other than T’Challa’s occasional outings with the Avengers, there’s very little reason for characters in Wakanda to be involved with the goings-on of the rest of the MCU.

Including Everett Ross in the sequel would provide an answer as to why Wakandan characters are involved in non-Wakandan incidents. His connection to the United States Government, as well as several other prominent MCU characters, would make it easy to justify Wakandans taking part in global issues.

Martin Freeman is too damn good to only be used in one Black Panther movie.

Alright, we admit that there may be a little personal bias on this one, but we can’t imagine why an actor as talented as Martin Freeman wouldn’t return for the sequel. After all, he’s got some serious credits under his belt, including the wildly popular BBC series Sherlock and The Hobbit trilogy.

While Everett may not be as much of a necessity to the story of Black Panther as characters like T’Challa, Shuri, or Nakia, we think it’d be a crime for such a great actor not to come back.

Are you a fan of Everett Ross? Are you looking forward to Black Panther 2? Sound off in the comments below.