Does Goliath Show Up in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’?

Laurence Fishburne makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but is he just Bill Foster, or is he a superhero in his own right?

SPOILER for Ant-Man and the Wasp follow.

In the universe of Marvel Comics, Bill Foster worked for Tony Stark and later was Hank Pym’s lab assistant. He was exposed to Pym Particles that gave him size-changing abilities similar to Pym’s. He became the hero Black Goliath before decided to become the new Giant-Man. During his superhero career, Foster was a technical advisor to the Champions, a member of the Defenders, and a part of the West Coast Avengers.

Foster lost his powers for a time, but later regained them and became Goliath. During the Superhero Civil War, Foster aligned himself with Captain America. He was killed by Ragnarok, the cyborg clone of Thor created by Tony Stark, Hank Pym, and Reed Richards. Later, his son Tom Foster used Pym Particles to gain size-changing powers and took up his father’s mantle as Goliath.

In Ant-Man and the Wasp, this superheroic path is given a passing homage but is not fully realized on screen. In the film, Foster is someone Pym worked with during his days at SHIELD. Foster claims to have been Pym’s partner on “Project Goliath” – the project’s name is an Easter egg referencing Foster’s comic book persona – a claim that Pym disputes.

During a conversation with Scott Lang, Foster reveals that he tested out the size-changing technology that Lang used during Captain America: Civil War to become Giant-Man. Foster says that his largest growth was to a size of 21 feet. Lang grew to 65 feet.

But a history with SHIELD, a past relationship with Pym, and laboratory testing Giant-Man technology are the closest we get to Foster becoming Goliath on screen. In truth, it’s not so far from his comic book origins. Foster spent quite a few issues as a supporting character before becoming a hero himself.

Were you disappointed that Goliath didn’t appear in superhero form in Ant-Man and the Wasp? What did you think of Laurence Fishburne’s performance? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters.

Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.