Everett K. Ross

Origin

Not much is known about Everett's past except that he works for the U.S. State department, where it was his job to escort foreign diplomats on United States soil. He loved his job and soon grew out to be one of the best.

Creation

Evertt Ross was created by Christopher Priest and Kenny Martinez and first appeared in Ka-Zar Volume 3 issue 17 (1998). He later played a large role in Christopher Priest's Black Panther series.

Major Story Arcs

The Client

With the arrival of of King T'Challa, the Black Panther, Everett is put on assignment to escort him during his visit to New York City. Surprised that T'Challa brought company in the form of Zuri, Nakia, and Okoye, Everett must drive the entire group in his two seat convertible car. Another surprise for Everett is the fact that T'Challa would like to stay in a housing project rather than a luxurious hotel. While stopping for Chinese food, Everett is picked on by a street punk named Manuel Ramos. The encounter is then ended by local police officer Sergeant Tork. Realizing that his identification is missing, Everett comes to the conclusion that Ramos stole it, so he tracks him down to a local strip club, in which a brawl involving Zuri, himself, and a group of strippers breaks out. The fight results in the loss of Everett's pants and Black Panther, his entourage, and Everett getting their mugshots taken. The entire group is later freed on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. Following the lockup, Black Panther goes out to further investigate into the Tomorrow Fund scandal, the sole reason why he's in the US. Back at the housing project, Zuri proceeds to give Everett a history lesson of Wakanda until a knock on the door results in the visit of a demonic being.

In Other Media

Televison

• Everett Ross is seen in the Black Panther animated series, voiced by David Busch.

Film

• Everett K. Ross appears in Captain America: Civil War, portrayed by British actor Martin Freeman. In the film, he is an agent of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre who helps supervise the Avengers after they become restricted by the Sokovia Accords. He later oversees Helmut Zemo's imprisonment after he is brought in by Black Panther.
• Martin Freeman returns to his role as Everett K. Ross in Black Panther. In the film, he is first seen in South Korea where he is on a mission for the C.I.A. to buy Vibranium off Ulysses Klaue. Black Panther intervenes which results in a shootout and Klaue is then taken into custody with Ross interrogating him. However, Erik Killmonger breaks into the facility and escapes with Klaue, leaving Ross with a bullet wound in the spine when he tired to protect Nakia, one of Black Panther's guard. T'Challa then takes Ross back to Wakanda for medical treatment, breaking the nation's usual action towards outsiders. After being healed, Ross proves a valuable ally to T'Challa as he reveals information on Erik Killmonger's origin as a Black Ops operative. Ross later joins Queen Ramonda, Shuri and Nakia on their journey to the Wakandan mountains where they hoped to find aid from M'Baku, leader of the Jabari (The mountain tribe of Wakanda). There, they find T'Challa who was presumed dead after a ritual fight with Erik Killmonger who had challenged his role as king. After healing T'Challa, Ross and the others return to Wakanda in an attempt to overthow Killmonger, who had seized control of the Nation. Ross remotely pilots a Wakandan ship and manages to destroy jets carrying Wakandan weapons out of the country. In a post-credits scene, Ross is seen in the UN summit where T'Challa announces Wakanda's hidden wealth to the world.
• Martin Freeman reprises the role in the sequel to Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Shuri describes him as his "favorite colonizer." Ross feels a lot of gratitude toward Shuri and the nation of Wakandan for saving him from a life-threatening injury and protecting him during a coup while he was there. He works as an inside man at the CIA, funneling information to Shuri, Okoye and Queen Ramonda. We also learn that he was once married to Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, who is now his boss at the CIA and is suspicious about his relationship with the foreign nation.

Video Games

• Everett K. Ross appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 as part of the Black Panther DLC pack. In the storyline of the DLC pack, he is kidnapped by Erik Killmonger, leading to Black Panther and Shuri launching a rescue mission.

Merchandise

• Everett K. Ross was featured in the HeroClix figure game as part of the Avengers series.
• Everett K. Ross was featured in Diamond Select's Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Black Panther.
• The movie version of Everett K. Ross was featured in Hasbro's Marvel Legends line as part of a two-pack with Erik Killmonger.