Bill Foster (character)

Dr. William "Bill" Foster, also known as Black Goliath, Giant-Man and Goliath, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a professor with powers similar to Hank Pym's increasing size and mass to gigantic proportions.

The character has made several video game appearances and appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, who later voiced alternate versions of the character in the animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and What If...?.

Creation

Isabella spoke on the character's creation stating "Bill Foster was Hank Pym’s colleague at a time when Pym (aka Ant-Man, Giant-Man, and Goliath) was trapped at a giant size. They were working to reverse that condition. Later, Foster used their work to become a super-hero himself. I wanted to call him Giant-Man, but I was told Giant-Man had sold badly near the end of his run in Tales to Astonish. We went with Black Goliath to distinguish him from the Pym incarnation of Goliath, but I was never happy with that name."^[1]

Publication history

Dr. Foster was created by

He starred in the five-issue series Black Goliath in 1976.

Bill Foster has appeared in the pages of various comic books, including The Avengers, Power Man,

The character was killed by Ragnarok in the fourth issue of the series Civil War.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Bill Foster was born in

Dr. Foster moves to the West Coast and acquires the formula to "Pym particles" which give him the ability to grow in size like his former employer. Taking the name "Black Goliath", he helps Power Man fight the

Black Goliath later assists the Champions of Los Angeles in battling Stilt-Man, then joins the group part-time as their technical advisor.^[8] Alongside Ben Grimm, Black Goliath battles the Hijacker.^[9] After the Champions disband, Black Goliath and a large group of other heroes attend a Defenders membership rally; this incarnation of Defenders battles a number of assembled superhuman criminals for only one mission before disbanding.^[10]

Giant-Man

The Project: Pegasus Saga

Dr. Bill Foster later joins the staff of

Bill Foster soon gives up the Giant-Man identity to which Hank Pym subsequently takes back for himself.[17] Not too long after that, Josten's ionic powers are disrupted in a battle against the West Coast Avengers.^[18] This causes an energy disruption which allows a race of extra-dimensional creatures, the Kosmosians, to attack Earth. Although the creatures are ultimately repelled, the energy disruption and effects on the Pym Particles affect all that have ever been exposed to them, except Pym himself, causing them to lose control of their growth and/or shrinking powers. During this storyline, it was shown how Foster and Pym were trying to use Pym Particles to end world hunger.^[19]

After losing his powers, Dr. Foster joins the

Foster dons the Goliath identity without the "black" in the name and along with a new costume to first help the Thing deal with a supervillain (along with hitting up for a research grant),[22] then helps Spider-Man track down the Hulk in order for Bruce Banner to possibly deal with Spider-Man's cellular degeneration.^[23]

Civil War

When the

Foster is killed by a clone of Thor during a battle between the Secret Avengers and Iron Man's pro-registration forces. Foster is buried as a giant, with Iron Man paying for the thirty-eight burial plots required to accommodate his body. His death affected the war's balance of forces, leading several characters to switch sides, such as Spider-Man defecting to Captain America's side.^[25]

Legacy

Bill's nephew,

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Norman Osborn dug up Foster's grave and removed his clavicle, hoping to use the Pym particle residue to track down Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers. Foster's clavicle is later broken in half by Osborn in a fit of rage after hearing Pym's team being declared "the real Avengers" on national television.^[29]

When Hercules ventures into the Underworld, Bill Foster is one of numerous deceased characters seen in Erebus: the place in between life and death where those who feel they still have business in the mortal world gamble and linger for their resurrection.^[30]

It is later revealed that Foster had worked with Hank on a virtual reality program where one could upload their consciousness and live on after death prior to his own death. The grieving Pym uploaded Foster's mind into the program, in effect creating a virtual Utopia for his comrade.^[31] A.I.M. later attempt to hijack the program, but Pym was able to defeat them with Eric O'Grady's help. During the adventure's course, O'Grady (disguised as Pym in the virtual world) converses briefly with Foster who says to stop pushing loved ones away.^[32]

Powers and abilities

Bill Foster's superpowers are a result of his biochemical formula containing Pym particles that he ingested.^[33] He has the ability to increase his size into gigantic levels by psionically drawing mass from an extra-dimensional source, while gaining immense strength and durability in this height. The extra mass returns to its source as he decreases in size. The process of height alteration is fatiguing, making Foster more vulnerable to harm, after successive changes.

Foster was capable of routinely growing to 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and could lift approximately five tons at that size. After regaining his powers during the "

Bill Foster possesses a gifted intellect with an extensive knowledge of biochemistry.

Other versions

Ant-Man Season One

A younger version of Foster appears in the Ant-Man: Season One

The 2015 Contest of Champions series featured an unidentified alternate reality's version of Civil War that had everything go in Tony Stark's favor. He used the Reality Infinity Gem to undo the death of Goliath at the hands of Ragnarok.[35]

Marvel Zombies

A zombified Black Goliath attacks the fortress of Doctor Doom known as "Doomshadt" in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness #4. He is repelled by Doom's forces as he is impaled by several large missiles and killed when they explode while still within him.^[36] A different zombified Black Goliath shows up in Marvel Zombies Return. He had been decapitated and his still 'living' zombie head is used as part of a makeshift computer to allow the zombified Hank Pym to create dimensional travel. This Goliath is destroyed in an attack by human-friendly forces.^[37]

MC2

In the

An alternate version of Bill Foster appeared in Spidey Super Stories as Giant-Man. In the story, it was explained that Foster was originally the young lab assistant of Hank Pym, and became the second Giant-Man after he retired.^[39]

What If?

In What If Civil War Ended Differently?, Bill Foster is featured in both stories. In "What If Captain America Led All the Heroes Against the Registration Act", Bill Foster appears on Captain America's side. In "What If Iron Man Lost the Civil War", Bill Foster is among the heroes on both sides that fight an out-of-control Ragnarok. When Ragnarok is about to use a lightning attack on Bill Foster, Iron Man threw himself in front of the attack.^[40]

In other media

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bill Foster appears in media set in the

• Introduced in the live-action film
  Janet van Dyne
  stabilizes Ava, Foster goes on the run with the latter.
• An alternate reality variant of Foster who became Goliath appears in the Disney+ animated series What If...? episode "What If... Peter Quill Attacked Earth's Mightiest Heroes?", voiced by Fishburne.^[44]
• Foster will appear in the live-action film Thunderbolts*.^[45]