Justin Hammer

"I wanna make Iron Man look like an antique."

- Justin Hammer

Justin Hammer is a business rival of Tony Stark. After making a deal with Ivan Vanko to get Iron Man suits for his own profit, he was arrested and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

Iron Man 2: Public Identity
When Tony Stark was getting worse, Senator Stern had Hammer working on an Aerodynamic Marvel which he considers the next step on close-quarter combat with full protection and attack capabilities.

When testing the machine, the machine was shot down and fell into enemy grounds.

Iron Man 2
Justin Hammer is a defense contractor and an old time rival of Tony Stark. When Senator Stern brings Stark to the tribunal in order to force him to give the Government his technology, Hammer is the expert called to prove that Stark's monopoly on his armor is dangerous for the US. Hammer shows many attempts made by America's enemies to replicate Iron Man's armor, but is then humiliated by Stark himself, who shows Hammer's men trying (with poor efforts) to do the same. After his public humiliation, Hammer's contract with the US Army is suspended.

Justin Hammer meets Stark again in Monaco, where both of them are supporting one of the cars involved in the race. He's with Christine Everhart, a journalist who's flirting with him for having some scoops and an interview, but she's told by Stark that Hammer lost his contract with the Government and so she leaves him. When Whiplash attacks Stark during the race, Hammer is amuzed by his armor and whips. When the villain is arrested, Hammer has him freed by prison and taken to a secret storage, in which the two of them forge an alliance. Hammer tells Vanko that he has to build for him many armors, so advanced that Iron Man's would become antique. Vanko tells him that building armors isn't the best choice, and convinces him that drones are better. Hammer believes him, but he doesn't know that the drones Vanko is building will only obey him.

When James Rhodes steals one of Stark's armors and gives it to the Air Force, Hammer is called in to improve it. Hammer weaponises the armor with the best of the weapons produced by Hammer Industries, creating War Machine, who will lead his drones army at the Stark Expo. Disappointed for having the drones not working at the Expo (as Vanko said, lying), Hammer has two guards keep an eye on him for not keeping to their arrangement. At the Expo, after a brief and goofy introduction, he presents his drones and the War Machine armor, but the demonstration is interrupted by Iron Man, who has discovered that Hammer is working with Vanko. At that very moment, Vanko remotely take control of the drones and of War Machine's armor, starting a massive attack on the Expo. Hammer tries to have his technicians regain control of the drones, but he is stopped by Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff, the latter of whom forces him to reveal Vanko's location. Pepper in turn calls the police and has him arrested for his complicity with Vanko. As he is taken away, Hammer assures her that this is no problem for him.

Character traits
Justin Hammer is a cocky and ambitious man, who is jealous of Tony Stark. He claims to be a scientific genius but in reality only disposes of a large amount of money who allows him to hire brilliant inventors. His main aim in life is to surpass his old time rival, Tony Stark, in every possible field, but he lacks Stark's genius intellect, style, and popularity. He's arrogant enough to hire criminals like Ivan Vanko to reach his goals, being sure to be able to control them. Rockwell described the role as a parallel to Tony Stark; Hammer his brilliance and ingenuity, but is a reflection of what he might have become if he continued producing weapons. Although he makes a profit out of weapons manufacturing, Hammer does not sell to enemy countries; unlike Obadiah Stane. His end goal was to humiliate Tony Stark, not to physically harm or endanger anyone. Even once he is betrayed by Vanko, he assists in shutting down Vankos drones (though this was more likely an attempt to gain leniency, and to clean up his own mess). All this would imply that Hammer neither evil nor a villain as much as he is a petty fool; bitter, arrogant and overconfident.

Relationships

 * Tony Stark - Rival and enemy
 * Christine Everhart - Interviewer.
 * Ivan Vanko - Former ally, traitor.
 * Pepper Potts - Rival and enemy
 * Natasha Romanoff - Enemy
 * Jack - Personal assistant

Appearances/Actors

 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 film)
 * Iron Man 2 - Sam Rockwell
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 comic)
 * Iron Man 2: Public Identity - (First appearance)

Behind the scenes

 * Sam Rockwell accepted the role without reading the script, not knowing anything about his character.

Trivia

 * In the comics, Hammer is an elderly British man, but Jon Favreau wanted to have an "anti-Stark" in the movie and made him younger and American.
 * The novel reveals that he was in fact taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
 * In an alternate ending for Iron Man 2, Whiplash forced War Machine to kill Hammer via remote control.