Justin Hammer

Justin Hammer is a business rival of Tony Stark and the CEO of Hammer Industries.

Meeting with the Senator
Justin Hammer is a defense contractor and an old time business rival of Tony Stark. When Senator Stern brings Stark to the tribunal in order to force him to give the Government his Iron Man suit 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 which all of them failed, however is then humiliated by Stark himself, who shows Hammer's men attempting to do the same. After his public humiliation, Hammer's Army contract with the US is suspended.

Seeing Vanko and freeing him
Later Justin Hammer meets Stark again in Monaco, where both of them are supporting one of the cars involved in the race. Hammer is 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 for Stark. When Whiplash is arrested, Hammer has him freed out of prison but takes him to his personal 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 old news. 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 realize that Vanko is making them for his own purposes.

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 introduce the Hammerdrones 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. Vanko remotely took 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 is haulted 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.