MCU: Is Everett Ross Related to Thunderbolt Ross?

One of the scenes we saw in episode 1 of ‘Secret Invasion‘ involved Everett Ross and the fact that a Skrull was impersonating him. Of course, we know that the real Agent Ross is probably over at Wakanda after he was charged with treason in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’ But we also know that another Ross will be important to the future of the MCU, especially with the ‘Thunderbolts’ movie coming up. So, is Everett Ross related to Thunderbolt Ross?

Everett Ross isn’t remotely related to Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross and his daughter, Betty Ross. Even though Everett and Thunderbolt work for the US government, they have never interacted in the MCU and have very different roles. Of course, it goes without saying that Ross is a common surname in the US.

Many people know that the world of Marvel Comics tends to make sure that characters have unique names to avoid confusion. However, supporting characters like Everett Ross don’t get the same treatment, and that’s why he has the same surname as one of the most important comic villains/anti-heroes in the form of Thunderbolt Ross. That said, let’s look at whether or not these two are related.

Everett Ross and Thunderbolt Ross Relationship Explained

Although he was often featured as a supporting character in the ‘Black Panther’ storyline of the MCU, we did see Everett Ross during the cold open of episode 1 of ‘Secret Invasion. Agent Ross was seen meeting with Agent Prescod to discuss the impending Skrull invasion and what these aliens were up to. But we also know that this version of Agent Ross was a fake because he was a Skrull that took up Everett’s form to infiltrate the inner workings of the CIA.

While he was never mentioned in episode 1 of ‘Secret Invasion,’ we know that Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is one of the easter eggs of that episode. We saw in episode 1 that James Rhodes was working directly for the president of the United States as an adviser. The president he was working for was President Ritson. And this was a Thunderbolt Ross easter egg because Ritson is set to leave his role as the POTUS when Thunderbolt assumes that post in the future during the ‘Thunderbolts’ movie.

As such, two different MCU characters currently share the “Ross” surname. We’re not even counting Betty Ross, who we know is the daughter of Thunderbolt Ross and the former romantic interest of Bruce Banner. We’re only talking about Everett and Thaddeus.

The fact that two characters have the same surname in the same fictional universe can get quite confusing, especially when it comes to the MCU, where we hardly see characters having the same surnames. But this is purely a product of coincidence.

Even though they have the same surnames and are government employees, Everett and Thunderbolt are not remotely related to one another. They are yet to actually have any encounters in the MCU. Moreover, in the comics, there seems to be no indication that they have met or interacted with one another.

Everett is a character that’s mostly associated with the Black Panther storyline in the MCU and the comics. On the other hand, Thunderbolt is the biggest threat to Bruce Banner in the comics because he hated the Hulk with all his guts. As such, they both have different storylines and belong to different franchises in Marvel Comics despite the fact that they both belong in the same universe.

Of course, it also goes without saying that the creators of these characters most likely didn’t coordinate with one another regarding their surnames. In most cases, Marvel characters have different surnames to ensure fans don’t confuse them with other characters with the same surnames. However, Everett was created by Christopher Priest and Kenny Martinez, whereas Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Thunderbolt.

Because they have different creators, there’s a good chance that the creators of both Everett and Thunderbolt didn’t coordinate with one another regarding the surnames of these characters, especially when you look at the fact that Everett is the newer of the two characters, having been introduced in 1998. 

There’s also the fact that Everett’s role in the comics isn’t as big as Thunderbolt’s role, which is to act as the nemesis of the Hulk. That’s why it wasn’t really a big deal for Everett Ross to share his surname with Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Ross is a very common surname

All of our theories aside, it isn’t surprising for two Marvel characters in the United States to have the same surnames. In this case, we are talking about the Ross surname that Everett and Thunderbolt share. That’s because Ross is one of the most common surnames in America.

According to a source, the Ross surname is the 89^th most popular surname in the United States. Meanwhile, another source says that the Ross surname is the 1,104^th most common surname in the entire world. As such, it goes without saying that there are a lot of people in the real world that have the Ross surname, even though they may not be related to one another at all.

So, going back to our point about Everett and Thunderbolt, it is quite realistic for them to share the same surname despite the fact that they aren’t related. Ross is an incredibly common family name in the United States, and that means that Everett and Thunderbolt are merely two of probably thousands of people with the Ross surname in the world of Marvel. 

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