Right now, all eyes are fixed firmly on Black Panther, and understandably so. Ryan Coogler’s spinoff is proving to be a smashing success, delighting critics and fans alike and cruising past one box office record after another. But if one were to look a bit ahead, and perhaps speculate about the future, there are a lot of interesting hints and clues dropped in the film for what’s to come.
True, T’Challa’s first standalone outing is a mostly self-contained story, but it’s still part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and as such, there are connections to the rest of the franchise. One such example is Martin Freeman’s CIA agent, Everett K. Ross. After appearing in Captain America: Civil War, the character returned for Black Panther and though he didn’t have the biggest role, it was still a lot more substantial than what we got in the aforementioned 2016 pic.
We learn that at one point, Ross used to be an Air Force pilot – and a pretty good one at that, judging by what we see him do towards the end of the movie. While this part of his backstory could mean nothing at all, Screen Rant speculates that it’s actually a bit of set-up for the character to appear in Captain Marvel. It might be a stretch, but given that Carol Danvers was also a member of the Air Force, and we know this part of her life will be explored in the film, could it be that she’ll encounter Ross?
It’s possible. After all, Freeman’s a hugely popular actor and fans seem to have taken to the character. Of course, given Captain Marvel‘s 1990s setting, it might not actually be Freeman playing Ross in the pic if they decide to go with a much younger version of him. Then again, they could simply just head down the de-aging route and that way, the Sherlock star could still fill the role.
Chalk this all up as speculation for now, as there’s been absolutely no evidence of Martin Freeman or even just the character of Everett Ross returning for Captain Marvel. Given how the studio tends to operate though, we’re inclined to say that him being a former Air Force pilot is a just bit too coincidental, don’t you think?