Superhero Hype just posted a new pic of multi-billionaire industrialist Justin Hammer, played by talented US actor Sam Rockwell. Unlike the comic version, this Justin Hammer is young and the same age as Tony himself in the movie. How he poses a threat to him and his alter ego, Iron Man, remains to be seen, but his comic book counterpart has a legendary history that spans decades worth of stories. Let's take a brief look at the man who has given Tony a lot of headaches through the years:
A rival of Tony Stark and a brilliant industrialist himself, Hammer was obsessed with achieving power beyond anyone's dreams. In addition to creating technology for his business, Hammer Industries, he secretly supplied villains with all the weapons and gear they needed, getting a big percentage in return for his services. At one point, he managed to gain control of Iron Man's armor through a device he created and forces the armored avenger to kill the Carnelian Ambassador with a repulsor blast. Tony manages to clear his name in the end, but the experience itself was traumatic. Later on, with the help of Iron Man rogue Spymaster, he steals Stark's technology and sells it off to the black market, sparking the storyline fans would come to remember as the "Armor Wars". Because of Hammer's actions, Stark felt responsible for his tech going AWOL, and he goes on a crusade to confront every armored or costumed individual using his tech, whether they be friend or foe. This brought about a lot of ramifications in his personal and heroic life that are still being felt by the superhero community today. Hammer even took control of Tony's former company of Stark International after Obadiah Stane's death, and this would trouble our armored avenger playboy for many years.
In the end, a final confrontation was born between Stark and Hammer after the latter discovers he's suffering from a terrible illness. He manages to infect Tony with mood altering nanites, but Stark eventually gets rid of them and confronts Hammer in his own space station. After a climactic battle, Hammer accidentally gets frozen in ice and thrust into the void of space. Where he is now is never explained, but his company lives on, under the control of his supposed daughter, Justine Hammer - aka the Crimson Cowl.
While Hammer was an old guy in the comics, he's now got the youth and experience to match Stark in the sequel next year. Can't wait for Iron Man 2!
Here's my own bold prediction: the film version of Justin Hammer will probably be much closer to Ezekiel Stane (from Matt Fraction's run on Iron Man) in terms of personality and motivation.
ReplyDeleteHehe, I love Fraction's run myself. If your prediction holds true, I'm just a little disappointed that they'd combine concepts of an old IM adversary and a character that was just introduced recently. Then again, you never know how things will turn out, and I'm hoping Jon Favreau's ideas shine through in the sequel.
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