Avengers: Endgame brought back a ton of familiar faces from the MCU that we never imagined we’d see again, but there’s one character from way, way back who fans have wanted to see make a return for a while now and it still hasn’t happened. Of course, we’re talking about Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, who proved to be a thorn in Tony Stark’s side in Iron Man 2.
Sure, the sequel itself was a bit of a mess, but the actor was a hoot, arguably making Hammer one of the best of all the anti-Stark type villains. Thankfully, then, Marvel still has plans for the character, and they hope to bring him back into the MCU sooner rather than later, from what we’re hearing.
So, where could Sam Rockwell happen to re-emerge? Well, we previously reported that a Thunderbolts film might be in production, and it’d unite various former supervillains into Red Hulk’s super-team. That seems like a pretty good place for Hammer to show up, but we’ve also heard there’s another option. And before we go any further, we’ll say that spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home will follow.
At the end of the aforementioned sequel, in one of the post-credits scenes, we see Mysterio reveal Spidey’s secret identity to the world while framing him for crimes he didn’t commit. As such, the general public now sees the hero as evil and has turned against him. Apparently, this is how things will be when Spider-Man 3 kicks off.
Here’s where it gets interesting, though. With Peter Parker made out to be the villain, someone decides to step up and assemble a team to capture him, and that someone might just be Justin Hammer, while said team will ultimately become the Sinister Six. We should note that Marvel may also want to have Norman Osborn be the leader of the squad here, which would make a lot of sense, but we’ve also been told Sony may not let Kevin Feige and co. use him.
So, if Osborn’s off limits, then Marvel may elect Justin Hammer into the position instead and bring him back to the MCU that way. Whatever ends up happening, it’ll be a while before we find out for sure which villain will take the lead, but rest assured that we haven’t seen the last of Sam Rockwell in the franchise and be it in Spider-Man 3 or another film, he’ll definitely return.
