Sam Rockwell has expressed his wishes to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sam Rockwell is best known for his works in films likeVice,Jojo Rabbit,Moon, andThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And then, of course, there is his Academy Award-winning performance inThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. But Marvel fans will remember him as Justin Hammer, the founder of Hammer Tech, and business rival to Tony Stark’s Stark Industries.
InIron Man 2, Justin Hammer colludes with Ivan Vanko to take down Stark Industries by making a working exoskeleton suit. Vanko later double crosses him and loose rogue droids over the city. Hammer is later arrested for conspiring with Vanko. He was last seen serving his sentence at Seagate prison in Marvel One-Shot,All Hail The King.
There’s no telling what became of Hammer after the world-changing events ofInfinity WarandEndgame, but actor Sam Rockwell is eager to find out. In a recent interview withThe Discourse, Rockwell revealed that he wants to be in the newly announcedThunderboltsmovie.
Check out his statement:
Yeah, definitely. The Thunderbolt… I would be into that. That sounds cool. What villains would be in that? Yeah! yeah, that’s fun… [Hammer]’s a real Lex Luthor.
While comparing his Marvel character to DC’s Lex Luthor, the actor has raised some discussion among fans concerning his possible reprisal. And given the recent developments in old characters’ arcs in the MCU, Hammer’s return doesn’t seem far-fetched. Recently,Tim Roth appeared inShe-Hulk: Attorney At Lawas Emil Blonsky/Abomination, fourteen years after his last appearance inThe Incredible Hulk. Kevin Feige also confirmed at D23 thatTim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns from the same movie would returnforCaptain America: New World Order, playing The Leader.
Given howThunderboltswould comprise a team of anti-heroes working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, it’s plausible that the villainess gets Hammer on board for somewhat tech and equipment support to the team. That would be really fun!
ThunderboltsRounding Up Some Huge Names
Kevin Feige first announcedThunderboltsat San Diego Comic-Conand then unveiled the team at the D23 Expo. The grounds for Thunderbolts were first laid inThe Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which featured Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val, who recruited John Walker for a secret project and gave him his moniker, U.S. Agent. It was later revealed that she already has Yelena on her payroll,who most likely would lead the team.
Now, Walker and Yelena are to be joined by their respective “friends” James ‘Bucky’ Barnes/Winter Soldier and Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian. Ava Starr/Ghost and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster will round up the rest of the team. But that’s probably not it.
Fans still expect that Zemo will also show up in the film, who in the comics is the team’s first leader. So, who’s to say that Hammer also gets a spot as a supporting character on the team?
Thunderboltsis slated to release on August 16, 2025. The film will be the final film of Phase Five and will be followed by Phase Six’s initial entry,Fantastic Four. By the timeThunderboltshit the theaters, we would have witnessed several changes in the MCU. Several multiversal entries would have changed the course of events in the franchise, andThunderboltsmay likely deal with that threat.
