Justin Hammer

: "You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark will not always be able to foresee. Thank you. God bless Iron Man. God bless America."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
Justin Hammer is a military contractor, and the former CEO of Hammer Industries who had formed a strong business rivalry with Stark Industries. Seeking to improve his own position and attack Tony Stark, Hammer had worked alongside Stern and attempted to damage the public's own view of Stark; however, this all backfired and Hammer's own public image was highly damaged. Furious at Stark for this failure, Hammer then recruited Ivan Vanko, the convicted terrorist, to attempt to replicate Stark's Arc Reactor technology, but this backfired as well when Vanko betrayed Hammer, leading into Hammer then being incarcerated inside of Seagate Penitentiary for his involvement in Vanko's actions.
== Biography ==
=== Challenging Iron Man ===
==== Aerodynamic Marvel ====
: "Besides, I can't help it if Stark won't play ball with the military and I will, speaking of which, hello genius. Beautiful isn't it, an Aerodynamic Marvel. The next step in close quarter combat, full protection and attack capabilities."
: ―Justin Hammer to James Rhodes[src]
In an attempt to discredit Tony Stark's Iron Man, Thaddeus Ross soon hired Justin Hammer to develop a single pilot close-quarter combat vehicle with full protection and attack capabilities. Soon, both Hammer and Ross presented the vehicle to Stern in Washington, D.C. and James Rhodes. However, despite Hammer's claims that the vehicle was not vulnerable to surface-to-air attacks, the Congolese Army was able to shoot the plane down during its first mission, leaving the pilot alone in hostile territory, leading to Stark being sent in to successfully rescue the pilot.
==== Recreating the Iron Man Suit ====
: "Right leg up, higher, arm up, right arm. Okay, left, turn to the right. Oh shit!"
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
As Iron Man continued to gain in popularity, Hammer read a newspaper article about the apparent impossibility of recreating the armor, angering him. Hammer again attempted to discredit him by secretly focusing Hammer Industries' resources into building their own version of the Iron Man suit with a new Arc Reactor, which was something many governments were attempting to do. The prototypes were unsuccessful, however, and during one test flight, the suit malfunctioned, twisting the pilot's body and seriously damaging his spine, although he managed to survive the incident.
==== Meeting with the Senate ====
: "In the last six months, Anthony Stark has created a sword with untold possibilities, and yet he insists it's a shield. He asks that we trust him as we cower behind it. I wish I were comforted, Anthony, I really do. I'd love to leave my door unlocked when I leave the house, but this ain't Canada."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
Hammer was called as an expert to prove that Tony Stark's ego and his monopoly on his Iron Man armor was now a danger for the United States of America, as part of Stern's attempt to force Stark to give the Iron Man suit technology to the government. Hammer argued that all Stark's efforts as the Iron Man were not good enough to protect the world, noting that due to the creation of Iron Man, there would be threats which Stark would not be able to foresee, claiming Stark keeping the armor was selfish and dangerous.
Hammer then took his seat as James Rhodes was called to the stand and asked to read out sections on his reports on Iron Man, in Stern's attempt to discredit Stark with his own friend's words. As Hammer remained silent and confident, Stern attempted to prove his point as he showed the many attempts by America's enemies to replicate Iron Man's armor, claiming the technology should be in the government's hands, while under Hammer Industries' close supervision.
However, Hammer was then humiliated by Stark, who proceeded to use J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack the screens and show Hammer attempting to also recreate the Arc Reactor and armor technology, but ending up injuring the pilot's spine. Hammer tried to save face by confirming the pilot's survival but Stark won the case and confidently walked out of Washington, D.C.. After his public humiliation, Hammer's weapons contract with the United States Armed Forces was suspended.
==== Duel of Monaco ====
: "I love Tony Stark. Tony loves me. We’re not competitors. Him being out of the picture created tremendous opportunities for Hammer Industries, you know? Everything that Tony and I do... is a healthy... competition."
: ―Justin Hammer to Christine Everhart[src]
Later, Hammer met with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts again as they were both in Monaco, where both of them were supporting one of the cars involved in the upcoming race. Hammer had come to the race with Christine Everhart, a journalist who was flirting with him for having some scoops about the new current status of his own company, Hammer Industries and an interview for her magazine, Vanity Fair; however, before the interview started, she was told by Stark that Hammer lost his own contract with the United States Armed Forces, forcing Hammer to then defend his companies' future.
As Hammer's interview with Everhart went underway, he attempted to claim that Stark's comments were merely playful banter between the pair and that Hammer Industries and Stark Industries were still continuing a close relationship. they noticed on the television that Stark had taken control of his own car and decided to race it himself. This led to Everhart quickly making excuses and leaving the interview to follow up this story instead, much to Hammer's annoyance.
Having been left alone, Hammer then watched the race unfold and witnessed Ivan Vanko step onto the track with his own weaponized armor complete with electrified whips and attempt to assassinate Stark by cutting his car in half and causing it to crash. While most people around him watched in horror as Stark battled against Vanko, Hammer studied the terrorist's technology closely to try and understand how it had been made by Vanko.
Stark survived the attack when Happy Hogan had successfully driven onto the track and given him his Mark V Armor and Vanko was then arrested, but Hammer saw an opportunity in finding someone who had successfully made a new Arc Reactor powered suit, considering how to build his own combat armors. While Vanko was being taken away into custody, Hammer immediately began making calls in order to arrange his escape from prison so they could meet.
==== Prison Break ====
: "I couldn't bear to have you shipped off to God knows where. It would have been such a waste of talent. But if I might make a suggestion, you know, you don't just go and try to kill the guy. I think, if I may, you go after his legacy. That's what you kill."
: ―Justin Hammer to Ivan Vanko[src]
Hammer had Ivan Vanko freed from prison and his death to be faked before he took him to his personal secret storage facility where they could talk in private. Once Vanko was taken out of the van he had been taken in, Hammer greeted him with a table filled with dinner and smiled upon his arrival, telling the guards to remove his handcuffs as a sign of friendship before inviting Vanko to sit down with him and eat dinner.
While Vanko remained confused as to why he had now been brought there, Hammer explained that Hammer Industries would like to do business with him. While Vanko tried to understand why Hammer had brought him there, Hammer explained that upon seeing all that Vanko had done to Tony Stark during the recent Duel of Monaco, he had become impressed and wanted to take advantage of Vanko's talents at outdoing Stark's own Arc Reactor technology.
Vanko showed he was interested as Hammer explained to Vanko that he had to build for him many armors so advanced that Iron Man's would become old news. Vanko agreed, although there was a brief moment when Hammer believed that Vanko only spoke Russian which he then explained he did not. Vanko agreed to do all this for Hammer as long as Hammer arranged to have his pet bird flown in from Russia, which Hammer then agreed to do for him.
==== Recruiting Ivan Vanko ====
: "I want them to put me in the Pentagon for the next twenty-five years. I wanna make Iron Man look like an antique. I wanna go to that Stark Expo and take a dump in Tony Stark's front yard."
: ―Justin Hammer to Ivan Vanko[src]
As they toured the Hammer Industries Headquarters, Hammer then proudly showed off all of his Hammer Armors to Ivan Vanko. Vanko examined all the prototype suits, pulling the head off one to examine the inside, much to Hammer's horror when he considered the cost of that prototype. Vanko then hacked into the facilities' own security systems with little effort and even called all of it shit.
As Vanko asked him what exactly he wanted, Hammer explained that he wanted to finally make Tony Stark irrelevant in the modern age of weapons, so Hammer Industries could then take over as the key weapons supplier for all of the United States Armed Forces and take over from Stark Industries. Vanko seemed to agree with Hammer's plans and agreed to do the work to improve his technology so that Stark and his own company could lose their credibility.
==== Ivan Vanko's Ideas ====
: "That's not a helmet, it's a head. I need to get a guy in there, I need to put a person in that in that suit. You understand?""Drone better.""What? Drone better? Why is drone better?"
: ―Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko[src]
Over the next few days, Ivan Vanko worked tirelessly inside Hammer Industries Headquarters on designing the newest suits for Hammer. As a reward, Hammer then brought in a bird, claiming it to be Vanko's own from Russia. However, after only examining the new bird for just a moment, Vanko noted that this was not his own bird but a new bird, which Hammer was forced to admit was the case.
When Hammer noticed that his armors had now been redesigned, he told Jack to try to wear the suit to demonstrate that it was no longer wearable which did not seem to bother Vanko. Remaining confident, Vanko told Hammer that building the new Hammer Drones was the best choice, and convinced him that drones were better than armors as people made problems. Hammer believed Vanko's claims, but he did not realize Vanko was making them for his purposes.
==== Upgrading War Machine ====
: "I'll take it.""Which one?""All of it."
: ―James Rhodes and Justin Hammer[src]
Hammer was contacted by Meade who had just recently received Tony Stark's own Mark II Armor as he had been taken into the custody of the United States Air Force by James Rhodes. Seeking to upgrade the armor for the military, Meade had summoned Hammer to Edwards Air Force Base to improve and weaponize the suit, much to the utter delight of Hammer who came straight there to make the deal in order to see the suit.
Taking great delight at the chance to personally design the new armor, Hammer then proceeded to demonstrate all of the weapons he would use in order to weaponize the armor with the best of the weapons produced by Hammer Industries. Seeing that Rhodes and Meade were not overly impressed by the machine guns he was showing off, which even included a mini-gun, Hammer eventually showed them the Ex-Wife Missile which he had described as strong enough to destroy even the strongest enemy bunker with a single strike, believing this would be enough to win him the job to work on and redesign one of Stark's armors with his technology.
Having shown off every weapon that Hammer Industries had to offer, Hammer turned to Rhodes and simply asked what he was thinking, noting that he could not get any read of Rhodes' facial expression. However, Rhodes noted he would take not just some of the weapons but all of them, leading to Hammer creating Mark I Armor, which he intended to introduce the Hammer Drones at the Stark Expo during his upcoming showcase of all of his newest technology.
=== Fall From Grace ===
==== Betrayed by Ivan Vanko ====
: "When I get back, we're gonna renegotiate the terms of our agreement. And you're gonna make good on our arrangement because if you don't, you're gonna be exactly what you were when I found you – a dead man."
: ―Justin Hammer to Ivan Vanko[src]
While playing another round of golf with Stern, Hammer was contacted by Ivan Vanko with an update on the design of the new Hammer Drones, wanting to know what they would be capable of doing at the Stark Expo presentation. Vanko informed him that he would only be able to make them salute and not fire their weapons, much to Hammer's dismay as he needed something better.
Furious about having been lied to and let down by Vanko, Hammer stormed into the Hammer Industries Headquarters and straight into Vanko's room where he found Vanko relaxing with the bird Hammer had given him. Hammer confronted Vanko with two security guards, ordering his men to take Vanko's bird, shoes and pillow away from him to demonstrate how it felt to have his things stolen from you, all while Vanko remained calm and silent as Hammer yelled.
Having made him suitably uncomfortable, Hammer then told Vanko that he was now heading onto the Stark Expo to demonstrate the Hammer Drones and a new War Machine Armor as well, and when Vanko spoke back to him in Russian, Hammer just yelled again about him not understanding what Vanko was now saying. Hammer then confidently left Vanko with his guards to watch over him, leaving for the Expo Demonstration, hoping to have sex while there.
==== Battle at Stark Expo ====
: "Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way. But then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
As Hammer attended the Stark Expo, he stepped onto the stage with a brief and goofy introduction where confidently he danced on stage to music, trying to one-up Tony Stark's own presentation a few months earlier. Hammer told the audience how the Iron Man technology had failed to save all the lives on their soldiers overseas, promising he had the solution for saving thousands of American lives.
Promising to present the newspapers with an even more impressive story, Hammer proudly showed off all the newest technology from Hammer Industries as all of the Hammer Drones were presented to the audience. Hammer explained how the Drones could be used by all of the branches of the United States Armed Forces in order to replace the soldiers on the ground as well as in the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. As the audience cheered and clapped for the drones, Hammer became even more confident as he began charging around the stage to present the drones as they rose onto the stage.
Finally, Hammer explained that he would always have a key role for a human at the command of his new army of Hammer Drones and then presented the War Machine Armor, while also introducing James Rhodes as the pilot of the armor. With his drones and the War Machine on stage, Hammer gave a salute which was greeted by one in return from all of the Drones, as promised, while Hammer vowed that his drones would protect the American people.
The demonstration was interrupted by Stark, who has discovered that Hammer was working with Ivan Vanko. Hammer initially tried to play off the situation and nervously deny all knowledge of Vanko's survival, but Vanko remotely took control of the Drones and of Rhodes' armor, starting a massive attack on the Expo. As the attack started, Hammer dove to safety off the stage as his drones fired upon the audience causing a large battle to unfold.
==== Arrested ====
: "Listen, we got to get these bitches out of here. What?""You tell me who's behind this. Who's behind this?""Ivan Vanko."
: ―Justin Hammer and Natasha Romanoff[src]
While Iron Man defended himself from the attack during the Battle at Stark Expo, Hammer sought to right his wrongs and come out better from the attack, so he attempted to have all of his technicians regain control of all the Hammer Drones as well as the War Machine Armor, finding that the pass-codes had now been changed so they were locked out of the system and unable to shut down the drones, so Hammer suggested that they try entering the codes in Russian to find the right answer.
Hammer's attempts to resolve the situation were soon halted by the arrival of both Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff, whom Hammer demanded leave so his men could continue their work. As Hammer was refusing to help, Romanoff took the matter into her own hands, pinning Hammer down and forced him to reveal Ivan Vanko's location at the Hammer Industries Headquarters by slamming his head onto the table and twisting his arm painfully backwards.
While Romanoff and Happy Hogan went to confront Vanko, Potts, in turn, called the police and had Hammer arrested for his complicity with Vanko. As he was taken away, Hammer assured her that this was no problem for him and he would be back and vowed revenge against both Stark and Potts. While Hammer was taken into custody, his Hammer Drones were destroyed and Vanko was killed during his final battle against Iron Man and War Machine.
==== Life in Seagate Penitentiary ====
: "What is so special about him? I mean, I had an army of robots. What's he got? He's got some dumb accent. His name's Trevor. What is that? It's like if bin Laden and Benny Hill had a baby."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
Justin Hammer was sent to Seagate Penitentiary after being arrested at the Stark Expo. His stay at Seagate was kept a secret from a part of the inmate population, though rumors still persisted of a millionaire residing somewhere within the prison.
While being interviewed for a documentary, Hammer, who had apparently developed a relationship with his co-inmate, stated that he resented Trevor Slattery and felt that he should be more recognized. During the interview, his partner made a gesture to him which he dismissed. At the same time, he was reading a Forbes magazine with Pepper Potts featured on the cover.
== Personality ==
: "Then I got to wake up and look at this chick? 'Pepper Potts stirs up stuff. Look at me.' Some second-rate, jumped up, Amazon secretary. Tony and I... Tony's cool. Tony and I, we have an understanding. We're both brothers in arms, you know. Literally. We were both arms dealers. We're both good looking. We both have nice hair. We both have boats. I used to have a boat. Well, anyway..."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
Justin Hammer is a self-centered businessman and rival to Tony Stark. Whilst overconfident, Hammer is also incompetent in terms of the quality of his technology, some of which are faulty altogether and even dangerous to the user, such as an attempt to replicate Stark's Iron Man Armor results in the injury of the pilot, the outdated software at Hammer Industries described as "shit" by Ivan Vanko and the Ex-Wife Missile, despite selling it as a weapon of mass destruction, does not even scratch Vanko's Whiplash Armor Mark II.
Following the repeated media attention being distracted from Hammer Industries to Stark, especially since the reveal of Iron Man's identity and his subsequent humiliation, Hammer began engaging in legally dubious activities to finally gain the upper hand over Stark, even breaking the terrorist Ivan Vanko out of prison and getting him to assist Hammer. Though a self-proclaimed businessman, Justin Hammer seems to be without his own original ideas such as creating a Hammer Expo, a few months after Stark's own Expo, and lining it with drones (but Hammer initially asked for suits instead) and selling the War Machine Suit as his own, despite it is granted to him by Rhodes from Stark Industries. Hammer is also willing to endure repeated insults to himself and his company for a period of time for the greater good of matters, as he does with Vanko. However, when pushed to the edge, Hammer can undergo furious, almost temper-traumatic rants against an individual who wronged him.
== Abilities ==
* Expert Businessman: Hammer is an exceptional businessman, running an industry of sufficient standing to be a rival for Stark Industries and possess government and military contracts. Hammer had hoped to use Ivan Vanko to create Arc Reactors for Hammer Industries when he saw the business opportunities that that technology provided. During the Stark Expo, Hammer had put on a show of some dance moves in order to get the attention put on him and his company. He then proceeded to reveal his Hammer Drones with military songs playing over it so that the United States Armed Forces believe it's the right choice for them. His business was even successful after he got arrested. His weapons were pivotal in Cottonmouth's reign as well.
: "This that grade A, military, Justin Hammer-level shit."
: ―Cottonmouth[src]
* Expert Engineer: Although not at the same level as Tony Stark, Hammer is still an accomplished engineer, having created many weapons deemed to be the equivalent of a grade A military weapon that has impressed the United States government, replacing Stark Industries when it stopped creating them. Among his inventions are the Aerodynamic Marvel, the Battle Tank, and the Ex-Wife Missile. Although the ex-wife missile did not work. He also was not able to create good enough armor to replace Iron Man's Armor, so he had to enlist the help of Ivan Vanko, who made Hammer Drones.
* Tactician: Hammer used a plan to recruit Ivan Vanko so that he could use him. This plan included sending a man into Vanko's cell and then having Vanko blow it up to make others believe he had died in the explosion. Upon meeting Vanko, he tasked him with creating Iron Man Armor for Hammer Industries. However, Hammer proved to be outmatched in this position as Vanko crossed him and ultimately got Hammer arrested.
== Equipment ==
=== Weapons ===
: "Size does matter, don't let anyone tell you differently. This is an M134 7.62 Minigun, six invidual barrels, the torso taker, powder maker. Our boys in uniform call in Uncle Gazpacho or Puff the Magic Dragon."
: ―Justin Hammer to James Rhodes[src]
* Claridge Hi-Tec Semi-automatic 9mm Pistol: Hammer presented this weapon to the military, but quickly realized it wasn't suitable.
* Kimel AP-9: Hammer presented this to the military, but got no response from James Rhodes.
* M24 Shotgun: Hammer tried to sell this weapon to the unimpressed James Rhodes,
* FN F2000: Hammer proudly showed this to James Rhodes, cocking the weapon back during his presentation.
* Milkor MGL Mk 1L: Hammer explained that you can put any grenade in this, tear, frag, smoke, anything.
* M134 Minigun: One of Hammer's last weapons in his presentation with the minigun, but became annoyed because James Rhodes had no reaction. Rhodes then bought all of them.
== Justin Hammer's Designs ==
* Aerodynamic Marvel: Hammer presented the Marvel to the military, which they used. However, it crashed and the pilot was taken by pirates. Iron Man saved the pirate while Hammer was left to deal with the consequences.
* Hammer Drones: Hammer created a line of manned suits that were supposed to replace Iron Man. However, he could make them functional enough for his standards so he recruited Ivan Vanko to improve them.
: "This is my Eiffel Tower. This is my Rachmaninoff's Third. My Piéta. It's completely elegant, it's bafflingly beautiful, and it's capable of reducing the population of any standing structure to zero."
: ―Justin Hammer to James Rhodes[src]
* Sidewinder "Ex-Wife" Missile: Prized by Hammer as one of his greatest creations, he claimed the Ex-Wife missive was capable of leveling several stories. Despite its hype, the missile failed to do anything during Rhodes' showdown with Whiplash.
* Battle Tank: Hammer designed a battle tank which the Ten Rings got access to.
== Facilities ==
* United States Capitol: Hammer attended the Senate meeting where Tony Stark was summoned to hand over his suit tchnology so the armed forces could utilize them. Hammer testified against him but was humiliated by Stark, something that led to his government contract being suspended.
* Circuit de Monaco: Hammer went to the Monaco Grand Prix while Christine Everhart was writing a piece on him for Vanity Fair. Hammer saw Ivan Vanko's attack on Iron Man and decided to recruit him.
: "This is my humble abode."
: ―Justin Hammer to Ivan Vanko[src]
* Hammer Industries Headquarters: As the CEO and founder of Hammer Industries, Hammer spent a lot of time at their headquarters. Among with other Hammer products, he stored the Hammer Drone lines here.
* Edwards Air Force Base: Hammer presented many weapons to the military at the base, including the Ex-Wife Missile.
=== Prisons ===
* Seagate Penitentiary: Following his arrest Hammer was detained at the penitentiary, where he was living in relative anonymity despite his status as a millionaire. He seems to be in a relationship with a fellow inmate.
== Vehicles ==
: "I used to have a boat."
: ―Justin Hammer[src]
* Boat: Hammer reminisced to his boyfriend of a boat which he used to own, before he was incarcerated in Seagate Penitentiary.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Sister
* Timmy - Nephew
=== Allies ===
* Hammer Industries
** Jack - Butler
** Troy McGatlin †
* United States Congress
** United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
*** Larson
*** Elkin
*** Stern
*** Busard
*** Gibson
*** Clements
*** Goodwin
*** Carlino
*** Beckman
* United States Army
** Thaddeus Ross
* United States Air Force
** Meade
** Julius Allen
* Stern
* Christine Everhart - Interviewer
* Fletcher Heggs - Fellow Inmate
* Boyfriend	
=== Enemies ===
* Stark Industries - Business Rivals
** Tony Stark/Iron Man †
** Pepper Potts
** Happy Hogan
* Ivan Vanko/Whiplash † - Former Ally
* James Rhodes/War Machine - Former Ally
* Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow † - Former Employee
* New York City Police Department
* Trevor Slattery - Former Fellow Inmate
* White Power Dave - Fellow Inmate
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, Justin Hammer is much older and more cynical than his MCU counterpart, and his hatred of Tony Stark is much more apparent. The reason for this change was to create a more anti-Tony Stark-type character by having him around the same age.
* Following the end of All Hail the King, Hammer is retroactively revealed to be the first confirmed male LGBTQ+ character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
== Behind the Scenes ==
* In the early storyboards for Iron Man 2, Justin Hammer was killed by War Machine while he was controlled by Whiplash.
* Ryan Babbs was a stand-in for Sam Rockwell in the role of Justin Hammer.
* Marvel Comics writer Bob Layton, one of the creators of Justin Hammer, disliked Hammer's portrayal in Iron Man 2, citing that his comical tendencies were a black mark for his original character.
* When asked if there are any plans to bring back Justin Hammer, Kevin Feige replied that there's a possibility as he loves to bring back characters the audience think they have seen the last of.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Justin Hammer.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to Justin Hammer.
# ↑ Iron Man 2: Public Identity
# ↑ Iron Man 2: Iron Man's Friends and Foes
# ↑ Jump up to:3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Iron Man 2
# ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
# ↑ Luke Cage: 1.04 Step in the Arena
# ↑ Jump up to:6.0 6.1 Iron Man 2 Deleted Scene
# ↑ Did Marvel Originally Plan For War Machine To Kill Justin Hammer In IRON MAN 2?
# ↑ Interview with Bob by Dolmen Magazine
# ↑ Kevin Feige Reddit AMA
== External Links ==
* Justin Hammer on Marvel Database
* Justin Hammer on Wikipedia