Big Man (comics)

Big Man is the name of different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The known characters who have gone by the name of Big Man are Frederick Foswell, his daughter Janice Foswell, and his son Frederick Foswell Jr. The MC2 version of Big Man is the son of Hank Pym and Wasp.

Fictional character biography

Frederick Foswell

Main article: Frederick Foswell

Frederick Foswell was the first person to assume the Big Man mantle.^[1] He used to be a reporter for the Daily Bugle, but in reality he lived a secret life as a criminal boss named Big Man. He was eventually defeated by Spider-Man, after which he reformed and eventually sacrificed himself to save J. Jonah Jameson from being shot.

Janice Foswell

Janice Foswell
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Team-Up #39 (November 1975)
Created by	Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema
In-story information
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Enforcers
Abilities	Skilled in stealth Proficient markswoman with pistols

Janice Foswell is the daughter of the original Big Man (Frederick Foswell) and sought to follow in her father's footsteps to gain control of the New York underworld. She was soon joined by a new Crime Master and Sandman.^[2]

She and her Enforcers were defeated by Spider-Man, the Human Torch and the Sons of the Tiger. Over a dispute about eliminating Spider-Man and the Sons, Janice was killed by the Crime Master who turned out to be her fiancé and son of the original Crime-Master (Nick Lewis Jr.) as both had separately pursued vengeance against Spider-Man without knowledge of each other's identity.^[3]

Frederick Foswell Jr.

Frederick Foswell Jr.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Spider-Man #13 (January 2019)
Created by	Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley
In-story information
Species	Human

Frederick Foswell Jr. is the son of Frederick Foswell and the brother of Janice Foswell. He took over the Big Man role to gain revenge for the death of his father and sister, which he blamed on Spider-Man. Using one of Arcade's Murderworlds, Foswell Jr. attacks Spider-Man with a giant robot before being defeated and arrested.^[4]

Other versions

MC2

An original incarnation of the Big Man, Hank Pym Jr., appears in the MC2 story A-Next. He is Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne's son who inherited the former's size-shifting powers and founding member of the Revengers who initially fights the superhero team A-Next before reforming and joining a government-sponsored team.^[5]

Ultimate Marvel

A character based on the Big Man, Mr. Big, from Earth-1610 appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. He is a mobster and leader of the Enforcers who plots to usurp Wilson Fisk, only to be killed by him.^[6][7]

In other media

• An original incarnation of the Big Man appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man. This version is the alias of a mysterious crime lord which is utilized by Tombstone (voiced initially by Keith David and subsequently by Kevin Michael Richardson)^[8] initially before the Green Goblin (voiced by Steve Blum)^[9] subsequently takes over.
• Henry Pym Jr. appears in Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, voiced by Aidan Drummond.^[10]