Everett Ross

"I have seen gods... fly. I've seen men build weapons... that I couldn't even imagine. I've seen aliens drop from the sky. But I have never seen anything like this. How much more are you hiding?"

- Everett Ross to T'Challa

Everett K. Ross is a CIA operative and the former Deputy Task Force Commander of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. Working alongside Thaddeus Ross, Ross had been tasked to control and regulate the actions of the Avengers following the creation of the newly formed Sokovia Accords. However Ross had soon come into conflict with Captain America after the Winter Soldier had been targeting for his own part in seemingly committing a sudden horrific terrorist act. After Tony Stark revealed that Helmut Zemo was the one to blame for the attack and Zemo was apprehended by the Black Panther, before Ross took Zemo into custody.

Returning to the CIA, Ross had been given the task of purchasing a Vibranium weapon from Ulysses Klaue, which put Ross back into contact with Black Panther. Upon being mortally wounded by Erik Killmonger, Ross was nursed back to health in Wakanda, where he discovered their technological advancements. During his time at Wakanda, Ross witnessed Killmonger taking control and, due to owing T'Challa a debt, then aided the Black Panther in defeating Killmonger's forces. As a result, Ross supported T'Challa while he began sharing Wakanda's wealth with the rest of the world.

Military Pilot
"My name is Everett." "Yes, I know. Everett Ross, former air force pilot, now CIA."

- Everett Ross and Shuri

Everett Ross served in the United States Armed Forces as a pilot before joining the CIA. During his time in the Armed Forces, Ross encountered Erik Killmonger, who was known to be an exceptional killer within the American Military. Moving swiftly up within the ranks of the CIA, Ross was put in charge of the newly formed the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, where he was then tasked by the new Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross with ensuring that the rules of the Sokovia Accords were being correctly followed by any and all hero groups, which had included the Avengers.

Capturing the Winter Soldier
"You'll be provided with an office instead of a cell. And do me a favor, stay in it." "I don't intend on going anywhere."

- Everett Ross and T'Challa

Once the Winter Soldier had been successfully apprehended by the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre agents for the recent terrorist bombing he was imprisoned in their headquarters in Berlin along with Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and T'Challa who had had a public clash. There, they met Ross, who was introduced to them by Sharon Carter. Ross confiscated all their equipment, telling Rogers that he will write them out a receipt for his shield and the EXO-7 Falcon. When Rogers asked what would happen to Barnes, Ross claimed he would go through a phycological evaluation before being moved to prison, which he believed should also happen to all the rest of them. Ross then escorted the heroes to the control room, along the way informing them that they would be provided with offices rather than prison cells and insisted upon them staying there, which T'Challa explained that he would do until Barnes was moved. Ross then left them to continue his work while allowing them to survey Barnes during the interrogation. He also left Tony Stark to try and convince Rogers to sign the Sokovia Accords at long last. While Barnes was held in his cell, Ross awaited the arrival of Theo Broussard to begin the questioning. During this time Ross was contacted by the Wakandan government who informed him that King T'Challa had requested that Barnes be given to him as his prisoner to be punished for the murder of T'Chaka. Ross agreed and informed T'Challa of his, sarcastically clapping him for his success as he had wanted the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre to keep Barnes.

Escape from the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
"Alright come on guys, give me eyes on Barnes."

- Everett Ross

Ross took time to watch as Bucky Barnes was questioned by a man posing as physiatrist Theo Broussard. Ross listened as Broussard asked Barnes about his time as an assassin for HYDRA and what he remembered about this time, although Barnes remained mostly silent and only insisted that he be called Bucky and that he was not a murderer any more since he had gotten away from HYDRA and had been trying to live as peacefully as possible while on the run in Romania. However suddenly during the interrogation the power throughout the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building was cut out, leaving Ross unable to see or hear what was happening in the room. While Ross ordered his men to find a solution, Captain America and Sam Wilson charged downstairs only to discover that Broussard had freed Barnes who managed to escape along with Rogers and Wilson who were still trying to protect him due to their belief that this was not his fault.

Capturing Helmut Zemo
"So, how does it feel? To spend all that time, all that effort and to see it fail so spectacularly?" "Did it?"

- Everett Ross and Helmut Zemo

Eventually it was discovered that Helmut Zemo was responsible for the bombings and had been trying to use the Winter Soldier to then destroy the Avengers. Zemo was captured by Black Panther and handed over to Ross, who took measures to keep Wakanda's involvement in the arrest under wraps. Once Zemo was imprisoned, Ross came to mock the terrorist for his failings. However, Zemo countered by saying he had won, as his goal was to destroy the Avengers; he had succeeded in breaking up the team thanks to using the Sokovia Accords to his advantage by framing Captain America's closest friend.

Clash with Ulysses Klaue
"Well, you brought quite the entourage. Do you have a mixtape coming out?" "Oh yeah, I'll actually send you a link."

- Everett Ross and Ulysses Klaue

Ross is next seen in South Korea at a hidden casino, working with the CIA to purchase Vibranium from Ulysses Klaue. Upon noticing T'Challa was likewise in attendance, Ross, declaring his respect for the new King of Wakanda, implored him to back down. T'Challa returned the respect to Ross, but refused to back down. When the position of one of T'Challa's cohorts, head bodyguard Okoye, was compromised, a shootout broke out. Ross took cover and later fired several shots in escaping the casino. After escaping, he picked up Okoye and Nakia, a Wakandan spy, and helped them catch up to T'Challa, who had apprehended Klaue.

Interrogation of Klaue
"You're telling me that the king of a Third World country runs around in a bulletproof cat suit?" "Why don't you ask him yourself? He's right outside this very moment"

- Everett Ross and Ulysses Klaue

Taking Ulysses Klaue back into CIA custody, Ross, after convincing T'Challa to temporarily back down, interrogated Klaue about his own involvement in Wakanda's Vibranium. Klaue insisted that even deeper secrets hid in Wakanda, and that T'Challa and his family were in possession of massive amount of vibranium; Klaue explained that Wakanda was the basis of several hidden civilization stories, such as El Derodo. While discussing the matter with T'Challa and Okoye, Nakia entered the room to warn everyone of Erik Killmonger's plot to free Klaue, but by then it was too late. When Killmonger and his men opened fire, Ross dove on top of Nakia, taking a bullet to his spine. After stabilizing his wound, T'Challa offered to take Ross back to Wakanda to help him recover, despite the country's attitudes toward outsiders.

Recovering in Wakanda
"Don't scare me like that, coloniser!" "Okay, I have a name. It's Everett. Is this Wakanda?" "No, it's Kansas."

- Shuri and Everett Ross

Ross was quickly treated by T'Challa's brilliant sister Shuri, who healed him with Vibranium. Was skeptical that only a day had passed, given the rest of the world did not have the technology to heal a wound completely within a day. While initially somewhat cool towards Ross, she later took the time to explain her Vibranium transport system that she designed, which interested Ross. After receiving word that Erik Killmonger had reached Wakanda, Ross recognized Killmonger as a fellow American and briefed T'Challa on his background, explaining that Stevens had gained a reputation as a killer in the military, given the nickname "Killmonger".

Escape from Killmonger
"I'm in, too. You're going to need all the help you can get."

- Everett Ross to T'Challa Once T'Challa was seemingly killed by Erik Killmonger in ritual combat, making the latter the new King of Wakanda, Ross escaped the city along with Shuri, Nakia, and Ramonda, the queen of Wakanda and T'Challa's mother, retreating to the mountains to potentially give the Heart-Shaped Herb to M'Baku, the ruler of Wakada's mountain tribe, the Jabari Tribe. M'Baku did not allow Ross to speak, jokingly stating he would feed Ross to his children before remarking they were vegetarian. Ross soon discovered that T'Challa was still alive, under the care of the Jabari, and was visibly relieved when T'Challa was revived from a coma. He then pledged to fight alongside T'Challa in his battle against Killmonger.

Battle of Mount Bashenga
With Erik Killmonger transporting Wakandan weapons to the outside world, Ross was tasked with remotely piloting a Wakandan fight craft to stop them. Ross, a former Air Force pilot, was equipped with a holographic projection of the craft in Shuri's Lab, with the princess modifying the controls to mimic an American fighter setup (so Ross could control the craft with no difficulty). As Ross took down several of Killmonger's transports, another fighter began to fire its way into the lab. Undeterred, Ross remained in the holographic cockpit until he had taken down all of the transports before escaping the lab just before Killmonger's forces broke through.

Wakanda Meets World
"Listen, it's not my place to say, but man I really don't think you should do this. What you guys have is going to scare a lot of people in that room. They're going to come after you." "Yes, but I will no longer rule out of fear."

- Everett Ross and T'Challa

Some time following the Battle of Mount Bashenga, Ross was present at the Vienna International Centre as King T'Challa arrived with his entourage. Ross personally greeted T'Challa and Nakia before asking for a private conversation with T'Challa in which Ross recommended that he should not reveal their wealth and power to the United Nations, fearing the response could be dangerous. T'Challa however insisted to Ross that he would no longer rule out of fear like T'Chaka had done, believing they should lead by example. Hearing this Ross accepted T'Challa's decision and let him make his speech. Before leaving however, Ross attempted to wish T'Challa good luck in, however he mispronounced some words which caused Okoye and Ayo to laugh alongside T'Challa and Nakia while Ross insisted they not laugh as he had practised the speech.

Despite Ross' warnings, T'Challa then gave his speech in which he established full relations between Wakanda and the rest of the world, promising to share their Vibranium and technology, as Ross sat at the back of the room and smiled at T'Challa's decision. When one of the senators questioned what a small country in Africa with no resources could do, both T'Challa and Ross smiled as the truth was revealed, much to the utter amazement of the rest of the world.

Personality
"What's going to happen to him?" "Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation and extradition." "What about a lawyer?" "Lawyer? Huh, that's funny."

- Captain America and Everett Ross

From what can be seen of him, Ross possesses a sarcastic and taunting personality to both his prisoners and allies alike. This is shown in both his mocking of Helmut Zemo during his imprisonment and his belief that Captain America's request of a lawyer for the earlier imprisoned Winter Soldier was hilarious. From these interactions, Ross displayed a belief that if a person has committed serious crimes, they did not deserve a trial and were to be imprisoned without hesitation. Despite this, Ross is shown to be a compassionate man as he jumped in front of Nakia and shielded her from a bullet, suffering a would-be fatal injury in the process had he not been taken to Wakanda.

Despite his immense distrust of others due to his position as a CIA operative, he was a staunch ally of T'Challa and the Wakandan royal family, and was more than willing to help them retake the country after they saved his life. Also, despite working for the CIA, Everett evidently did not disclose Wakanda's secrets, evidenced by the fact during T'Challa's announcement, the world still saw Wakanda as "A nation of farmers". He was also against Wakanda coming out to the world because he was worried about how fear from other countries could cause them to retaliate against Wakanda. However, when T'Challa was adamant about coming out, Ross swore to do everything in his power to keep other countries from attacking Wakanda out of fear.

Abilities
"Inhlanhla kunye neentlanzi ezininzi. " "It was close, it was close." "Don't laugh, I practised that."
 * Spy: Ross is a CIA agent who was investigating arms dealer Ulysses Klaue. He's a seasoned Intelligence agent and spy, he used his abilities to blend into the high rolling crowd in Busan.
 * Expert Pilot: Ross is an accomplished pilot who was once a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force.

- Everett Ross and T'Challa


 * Multilingualism : Ross is able to speak both fluid English and some Xhosa, albeit the latter still needs improvements.

Weapons

 * : Everett Ross possesses this handgun as his own main sidearm, taking it with him to his secret meeting with Ulysses Klaue where he was forced to fire it when Klaue's soldiers had begun fighting against Okoye while Ross and Klaue's meeting was happening.

Other

 * Remote Access Kimoyo Beads: To be added

Allies

 * CIA
 * Sharon Carter - Colleague
 * Joint Counter Terrorist Centre - Former Subordinates
 * Avengers
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * James Rhodes/War Machine
 * Thaddeus Ross
 * Theo Broussard †
 * Golden Tribe
 * T'Challa/Black Panther † - Contact and Friend
 * Shuri - Friend
 * Ramonda
 * Dora Milaje
 * Okoye
 * Ayo
 * Nakia
 * Jabari Tribe
 * M'Baku

Enemies

 * Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon †
 * Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier † - Former Prisoner
 * Helmut Zemo - Prisoner
 * Ulysses Klaue † - Attempted Killer and Former Prisoner
 * Erik Killmonger † - Attempted Killer
 * Linda †
 * Limbani †

Trivia

 * In the comics, Everett Ross worked for the United States Department of State, escorting foreign diplomats on American soil, one of them being Black Panther.

Behind the Scenes

 * Actor Martin Freeman described his character as: "someone who works for the American government and works in conjunction with the superheroes, and certain agencies that help to tame the superheroes' power". Freeman also added that Ross is "ambiguous" and "you don't know whether he's good or bad, so you’re not quite sure which side he's on. It looks a little bit like he's playing one game when actually he's playing another."
 * Matt Emig was a stunt double for Martin Freeman in the role of Everett Ross.
 * Adam Pedicini was a stand-in for Martin Freeman in the role of Everett Ross.
 * Martin Freeman states that Ross "has an uneasy peace with T'Challa", and that he "goes on a strange journey, an enlightening journey to Wakanda."
 * Due to having the same last name as Thaddeus Ross, some fans have been questioning if Everett is related to him in some way.