Read on to find out everything you need to know about Goliath. In the newest trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp, we meet Laurence Fishburne. He talks about the “Goliath Project” and growing. Who is he, and what does he have to do with the MCU?
1. Who is Goliath?
Bill Foster is one of Marvel’s first major African American heroes. Dr. Bill Foster is a scientist and former researcher with Hank Pym the original Giant-Man. Foster later also takes on the name “Giant-Man”.
Stan Lee and Don Heck created Dr. Foster in The Avengers #32 (1966).In the comics, he’s a biochemist from the slums of Watts, Los Angeles, California. He earned a Ph.D. and worked at the CDC before working at Tony Stark’s company.
Pym brings him in to help him after he gets stuck at 10 feet tall. Dr. Foster finds a cure and later becomes the superhero Black Goliath.
2. What Does Goliath’s Name Mean?
Goliath is the name of the Biblical giant who fought David. When Foster first appeared, he was a hotshot biochemist working with Tony Stark. Foster was attacked by the racist organization called “Sons of the Serpent” (basically the K.K.K. with snake costumes). This was at a time when black people were extremely rare in comic books. Letters to the editor were constantly complaining about the lack of black characters. So having a prominent, intelligent, educated black man was a real milestone. He wasn’t a background character either. Foster appeared in a bunch of issues as one of the main characters.
Years later, he took on a new role as a superhero. In Power Man #24 (1975) by Tony Isabella and George Tuska, he synthesized the shrinking formula, removed it’s side effects and became ‘Black Goliath’.
Though Tony Isabella is white, he’s also the creator of the prominent DC Comics black superhero Black Lightning. He described the creation of Black Goliath on his blog.
“When I decided scientist Bill Foster would become a super-hero and use the size-changing powers developed by his colleague and friend Henry Pym, I wanted him to be called Giant-Man,” Isabella said. “That was vetoed on account of Giant-Man had apparently sold badly in ‘Tales to Astonish’ back in the day. Just calling him Goliath didn’t seem quite strong enough, so, taking a cue from the movies I was watching at theaters with artists like Arvell Jones and Ron Wilson, and to my later regret, I went with Black Goliath.” He’s referring to popular blaxploitation films of the time like “Blacula”, “Blackenstein” and “The Black Godfather”.
Foster later did take on the name Giant-Man in Marvel Two-in-One #55 (1979). He later dropped the “Black” part of the name and became the fourth superhero named Goliath in The Thing #1 (2006).
3. What Are Goliath’s Powers?
In the latest trailer for the film, Foster says he was partners with Hank Pym on a project called “G.O.L.I.A.T.H.”.
This is the second time Project G.O.L.I.A.T.H. has been mentioned in the MCU. In “Iron Man 3” Tony Stark asks JARVIS to pull up “everything from Projects P.E.G.A.S.U.S., E.X.O.D.U.S. and G.O.L.I.A.T.H.”
Goliath, like Ant-Man, can greatly increase his height and strength. In the comics, he would grow to 15 feet but was known to get up to 25 feet. He became the size-changing hero when Hank Pym was stuck and couldn’t grow larger than 10 feet.
We don’t know what gives Giant-Man his powers in the movie. But in the comics, he ingests Pym Particles. That means he can change size at will without using the suit or any other external means.
4. Goliath’s Career
We meet Dr. Foster in the comics again after he moves back to California and becomes an inner-city crimefighter. He becomes a prominent hero and fights alongside superheroes like Luke Cage/Power Man, Iron Fist, Brother Voodoo and the Falcon. Later he would work with the supervillain The High Evolutionary to expose his plans and defeat him.
During the 2006 Marvel crossover Civil War, Bill Foster joins Captain America in the fight against the “Superhero Registration Act”. He also becomes the first casualty. A clone of Thor, named Ragnarok, kills him. his death motivated the anti-superhero registration movement in the comics and brought things to a head.
Foster’s death actually infuriated fans at the time. There’s a common stereotype that the “black guy” dies first. Of the 14 heroes who died in the event, only two are black and one is Hispanic. On the other hand, there are only six deaths in “Civil War II” and only one is black.
While most in the general public would think of Bill Foster as a minor character his importance to the Marvel universe can’t be overstated. Next, to Black Panther, he’s one of Marvel’s oldest superheroes of color. To many fans turning him into a plot device felt wrong.
The debate continues to this day. Hopefully, the character will last longer in the MCU.
5. How Does Laurence Fishburne Feel About Playing Another Comic Book Character?
Although Laurence Fishburne played Perry White in the DC superhero film “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman,” he’s wanted to be a Marvel hero for a while.
“I was a comic book reader when I was a kid,” Fishburne told Yahoo. “I was mostly a Marvel guy but I also loved the DC Comics. I also loved the DC universe. I bought comics from both universes and then subsequently bought comics from other labels that grew out of DC and Marvel. Vertigo, and Dark Horse, whatever. I’ve been watching the Marvel movies for a long time and I’ve imagined and dreamt and fantasized that one day I would be lucky enough to be in the Marvel Universe and that day has come.”
He already created the iconic role of Morpheus for The Matrix. Who knows what he’ll bring to the role!
What do you think of Goliath?
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