Benjamin "Big Ben" Donovan is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

al character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Depending on his appearance in the comics, Big Ben Donovan is a either criminal lawyer who has appeared in the comics that starred Daredevil and

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...

or a gang leader. Donovan was portrayed by Danny Johnson in the

Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel En ...

series '' Daredevil'' and ''

'' (both 2016-2018), set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

(MCU). Leilani Barrett voices the character in the MCU animated series '' Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'' (2025).

Publication history

Big Ben Donovan first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #14 and was created by Steve Engelhart and Billy Graham.

Fictional character biography

Big Ben Donovan is a large man and a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

that is close to in height. Mrs. Jenks hired him to settle the last of Mr. Jenks' affairs. When Mrs. Jenks would be giving Big Ben Donovan the payoff, he drunkenly went after Mrs. Jenks who ran to the office of

. This led to a fight between Luke Cage and Big Ben Donovan which ended with Big Ben Donovan surrendering upon the misunderstanding being cleared up. Big Ben Donovan agreed to help Luke Cage out in any way. Big Ben Donovan later witnessed Mrs. Jenks' confession of killing a reporter named Phil Fox (who was actually killed by Billy Bob Rackham). He then informed Luke Cage about Mrs. Jenks' confession before she died. Big Ben Donovan acted as Claire Temple's lawyer in order to clear her of the murder charge. He then continued working as Luke Cage's lawyer until he started working with Jeryn Hogarth. Big Ben Donovan had a brother named Paul who just became the leader of the Thunderbolts Gang where they made the mistake of fighting the Maggia for control of their turf. After his brother was killed in prison by operatives of the Maggia, Big Ben Donovan's sanity broke where he vowed vengeance on those responsible starting with Assistant District Attorney William Carver's brother Lonnie. During the struggle with William Carver, a sniper tried to shoot them at Lonnie Carver's funeral only to end up orchestrating the event that turned Bill Carver into Thunderbolt. Then Big Ben Donovan hijacked a Maggia shipment that was under the supervision of Caesar Cicero. When Big Ben Donovan turned to Luke Cage for help, they defeated Caesar Cicero's men before being defeated by

Man Mountain Marko Man Mountain Marko (Michael Marko) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marko was and remains an affiliate of numerous organized-crime entities in the Marvel universe, including the Maggia. H ...

who brought them to Caesar Cicero. Before Caesar Cicero's men could bury Luke Cage alive, Iron Fist and Thunderbolt arrived to help Luke Cage and Big Ben Donovan. Upon Thunderbolt realizing that Big Ben Donovan had Lonnie Carver killed, Thunderbolt removed his mask and advanced towards Big Ben Donovan as Luke Cage emerged from the ground to intervene. Before Thunderbolt died of his powers' side effects that aged him to an old man, he was happy that he now knows who killed his brother. Big Ben Donovan later came under the employ of

Tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

at the time when Tombstone was working for the Serbian Black Maria Gang. When the " Marvel Knights" investigated the criminal activity, Tombstone sent

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, Big Ben Donovan, and

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

to deal with them. Big Ben Donovan faced off against Daredevil where Black Widow's "widow bites" managed to take down Big Ben Donovan. Big Ben Donovan was incarcerated in the Cage, where he gained weight. Upon Tombstone being incarcerated at the Cage, he enlisted Big Ben Donovan, Hypno-Hustler, and a second Rocket Racer to help him against

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

. When the three villains held Kangaroo down so that Tombstone could kill him, the prison guards intervened. Kangaroo beat back his attackers, which landed Big Ben Donovan, Hypno-Hustler, and Rocket Racer II in the prison infirmary. It was revealed that Big Ben Donovan has a son named Little Ben Donovan who Big Ben Donovan left as a kid. He did manage to put money into his son's trust fund so that he could go to Columbia University after high school. During that time, Eric Slaughter took over the criminal organization at the docks, where he had his minion Floyd kill a dock worker.''Daredevil'' #109. Marvel Comics. Agent Purcell of a rogue task force had found Big Ben Donovan in his prison and forced him to take the rap for the dock worker's murder and be sentenced to death or else they will harm Little Ben Donovan.''Daredevil'' #110. Marvel Comics. Five days from his execution, Big Ben Donovan was visited by Dakota North where she recorded his confession and his conversion to Islam. He later got a visit from Matt Murdock, who wanted to be his lawyer. Matt Murdock expressed his interest in helping Big Ben Donovan getting cleared of all charges. Though Big Ben Donovan denied that he was innocent and later tried strangling himself in his cell. Matt Murdock later visited Big Ben Donovan in the prison's hospital where he told Matt Murdock to back off. Upon bringing Little Ben Donovan with him, Matt Murdock visited Big Ben Donovan and told him that Floyd confessed to his crimes. During the " Shadowland" storyline, Big Ben Donovan met Deadly Nightshade at Ryker's Island when it comes to dealing with the members of the Flashmob (consisting of Chemistro, Cheshire Cat,

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

, Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton, Mr. Fish, and

Spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

). While Dontrell Hamilton, Mr. Fish, and Spear were released, Big Ben Donovan was unable to secure the release of Chemistro, Cheshire Cat, and Comanche due to their warrants and/or parole violations. During the " Gang War" storyline, Big Ben Donovan was shown on the map to have territory in Mott Haven, Bronx and Port Morris, Bronx. A flashback showed that the gang members that worked for him had fought the A.I.M. Agents on Madame Masque's side to keep them out of their territory. His territory was claimed by the

Menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...

offscreen.

Powers and abilities

Big Ben Donovan has super-strength.

Equipment

Back in his early days, he sported really big platform shoes where the tips and the heels are made of steel that enable him to do powerful kicking attacks.

In other media

* Big Ben Donovan appears in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' episode "To Steal an Ant-Man" as a member of William Cross' gang. * Benjamin "Big Ben" Donovan appears in

Marvel's Netflix television series Marvel's Netflix television series are a set of interconnected American television series created for the streaming service Netflix, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios ...

set in the

, portrayed by Danny Johnson as an adult and Chaundre Hall-Broomfield as a child. This version is a crooked defense attorney at the law firm Donovan and Partners who represents high-profile criminals and corrupt politicians in New York City's criminal underworld. ** First appearing in the second season of '' Daredevil'', Donovan represents Wilson Fisk as his attorney, consigliere, and financial advisor. In the third season, Donovan successfully arranges for Fisk's release from prison by brokering a deal with the FBI to have the latter serve as an informant in exchange for Vanessa Marianna's safety. ** Donovan also appears in ''

'', managing Mariah Dillard's affairs and representing

Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

in court until Cottonmouth is killed by Dillard and Donovan represents Candace Miller, a hostess at the Harlem's Paradise nightclub who Dillard hired to help frame

for Cottonmouth's murder. Later in the series, Donovan temporarily defects to Bushmaster's side after the latter forces Raymond "Piranha" Jones to deplete Dillard's bank accounts until he discovers Bushmaster's act was not legally binding. Additionally, it is revealed that Donovan has been the Stokes family's lawyer for over 25 years, with his law school tuition being paid for by Dillard and Cottonmouth's grandmother, Maybelline "Mama Mabel" Stokes. * Big Ben Donovan, renamed "Big Donovan", appears in '' Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'', voiced by Leilani Barrett. This version is initially the leader of the 110th Street Gang before leaving them after he is nearly killed by the

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

References

External links

Big Ben Donovan
at Marvel Wiki
Big Ben Donovan
at Comic Vine

at Marvel Appendix {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Big Ben Comics characters introduced in 1973 Marvel Comics male characters Fictional American lawyers Luke Cage Characters created by Steve Englehart Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male supervillains Fictional gangsters African-American characters in comics