Justin Hammer

Justin Hammer
Justin Hammer. Art by Ron Lim.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Iron Man #120 (Mar 1979)
Created by	David Michelinie John Romita, Jr. Bob Layton
In-story information
Full name	Justin Hammer
Team affiliations	Hammer Industries
Abilities	Brilliant and shrewd financier, businessman, and strategist

Justin Hammer is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. As a frequent adversary of the superhero Iron Man, Justin Hammer exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in Iron Man (1st series) #120 (March 1979).

Fictional character biography

Justin Hammer was born in Surrey, England, and later became a citizen of Monaco. A rival of industrialist Tony Stark (Iron Man), multi-billionaire businessman Hammer, himself an industrialist, later became a criminal financier using unethical methods. In exchange for fifty percent of the crime profits, he would pay bail for costumed criminals and finance the development and replacement of both their weaponry and equipment.

At the start of the Demon in a Bottle storyline, Justin Hammer invented a device called the hypersonic scan transmitter, which allowed him to take control of Iron Man's armor. He tested this remote control, affecting Iron Man's unibeam, sealing plates, and boot jets.^[1] Angered that he had lost a lucrative bid to Stark International, Hammer took control of Iron Man's armor and forced him to kill the Carnelian ambassador, and set an army of superhuman criminals against Iron Man. Stark cleared his name and destroyed the control device, but had found a new enemy in Hammer.^[2]

With Force, Hammer next hijacked yachts to smuggle opium into the United States. They battled Iron Man and were defeated.^[3] Hammer later sent Adap-Tor to attack Stark Enterprises.^[4]

For a time, Hammer frequently hired the villain group known as the Death Squad in an attempt to kill both Stark and Iron Man, but fired the group after they constantly failed.^{[citation needed]}

When Force later attempted to go straight, Hammer sent the Beetle, Blacklash, and the second Blizzard to retrieve Force, but they were defeated by Force with help from Iron Man and Jim Rhodes.^[5]

Hammer later had Stark's Iron Man technology stolen by the Spymaster and sold it to a number of superhumans who wore powered armor—including, among others, the Stilt-Man, the Raiders, the Mauler, the Beetle, and even Crimson Dynamo and the Titanium Man.^[6] Iron Man started a small war to disable the Stark-based technology in the suits in question, going so far as to also disable sanctioned technology in the armor of S.H.I.E.L.D.'S Mandroids and the Vault's Guardsmen, leading him into conflict with The Captain and the his fellow Avengers. In short, Justin Hammer's greed led to the first of the Armor Wars.

Hammer later sent the Rhino to break the Blizzard out of prison.^[7] He sent his "B-Team" (Blacklash, Blizzard, and Boomerang) to battle the Ghost and Iron Man.^[8]

Hammer redesigned the Scorpion's tail, and sent him to abduct General Musgrave. Hammer sent Blacklash and the Rhino to retrieve the tail when the Scorpion refused to complete his mission.^[9] Hammer later learned that Tony Stark had been shot.^[10] Hammer sent Boomerang to raid a Stark Enterprises security office.^[11] Hammer hired the Taskmaster to train the second Spymaster.^[12]

Later, Hammer agreed to design a new costume for the Rhino.^[13] Hammer sent the Rhino and Boomerang to battle Cardiac.^[14] With the Life Foundation, Roxxon Oil, Stane International, and the Brand Corporation, Hammer abducted a number of superhuman beings to analyze their abilities. Hammer also helped the first Sphinx to reclaim the Ka-Stone. ^[15]

It was revealed, years later, that Justin Hammer had obtained Stane International after the death of its chairman Obadiah Stane, causing problems for Tony Stark through his old company. With operatives of HYDRA, Roxxon Oil, Moroboshi International, and the Trinational Commission, Hammer tricked the Masters of Silence into attacking Stark Enterprises. Even when Hammer was forced to sell his stock in Stane International to Stark for the sum of one dollar,^[16] Hammer had the last laugh, when all the shady dealings and irresponsible, or even criminal actions of Stane International came back to bite Tony later.

Much later, after Justin Hammer had been diagnosed with an incurable illness, he resolved to destroy Tony Stark before he died. Hammer infected Stark's bloodstream with mood-altering nanites that made Stark irrational and temperamental. In a final confrontation between Iron Man and Hammer on Hammer's own space station, Hammer was accidentally frozen in a block of ice and lost in space. ^[17] Hammer Industries kept running, long enough for employees to forget exactly what happened to Justin (of course, they might never have been in the know).

Justin is the father of Justine Hammer (a.k.a. Crimson Cowl), who led the incarnation of the Masters of Evil that fought the Thunderbolts.

Powers and abilities

Justin Hammer is a normal, middle aged man. He has a degree in commerce and business, and is an extremely efficient administrator with a genius-level intellect. He has access to various forms of advanced technology designed by his technicians.

Other versions

Ultimate Justin Hammer

Ultimate Justin Hammer.

In the Ultimate Universe, Justin Hammer first appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man #16 (2002).

There, he is a wealthy industrialist and CEO of Hammer Industries and is from the south of the US rather than from Britain. He was rivals with Norman Osborn and was Osborn Industries' main competitor. In an effort to surpass Osborn Industries, Hammer hired Osborn's top scientist Otto Octavius and paid him for inside information.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Justin Hammer has also been secretly funding superhuman testing directly violating the Superhuman Test Ban Treaty. Two of his more significant subjects were Electro and Sandman, both petty criminals who were given horrible powers.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When Otto Octavius was caught in a lab accident, he was grafted with four metal arms. He blamed Hammer for this, and sought him out for revenge. He attacked Hammer in his limo, and Hammer subsequently died from a heart attack.^{[volume & issue needed]}

His daughter, Justine Hammer, appears in the Ultimate Armor Wars series. She is found in a facility under Stark Industries that is being shut down by Stark after the Ultimatum attack on New York. The changes made to her by her father are degrading and killing her , until she is saved by Stark. She subsequently joins him on an international mission to recover stolen infomation regarding Iron Man tech.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In other media

Television

Justin Hammer appeared as a villain on the 1990s animated Iron Man TV series voiced by Tony Steedman and later by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.. Justin Hammer is not only shown to be a rival of Tony Stark like in the comics, he was also an ally of the Mandarin here as well as the one who orchestrated the death of Tony's father (which was later revealed to be a cover-up by S.H.I.E.L.D.). In "The Armor Wars" two-parter, he had Ghost steal the Stark Armor designs and sold them to each of the armored criminals. He also created the Firepower robot to eliminate his competition. After Firepower was defeated, Iron Man appeared in Justin Hammer's office to confront him. Iron Man then placed a virus-containing disc in Justin's computer that completely wiped out any records of his designs and uploaded it to the internet and Hammer’s computers. The same virus completely deleted all of Hammer’s files, and presumably left his company bankrupt. He was one of the few first season villains who appeared in Season 2 episodes besides the season premiere and the season finale.

Film

Sam Rockwell will play Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2^[18], set to open in theaters in 2010. ^[19] Given Rockwell's age, the creators decided to make Justin Hammer a more direct competitor/rival of Tony Stark, thus the character was re-written to match Tony in age.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Justin Hammer at Marvel.com