To be blunt: Iron Man 2 has always felt like the ugly-stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following the success of Iron Man, many assumed that this sequel would be another hit. After all, why not? It brought on board Mickey Rourke — coming off of a dazzling performance in The Wrestler — and also the amazing Sam Rockwell (coming off of a few hits of his own). The trailers looked great, but the film itself underwhelmed, feeling more like an advertisement for future Marvel films. As a result, Whiplash felt wasted, and so did Tony Stark’s adversary Justin Hammer.
Since that film, the most we’ve seen/ heard from Hammer is in a Marvel one-shot featuring both Hammer and Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery/not Mandarin. It was great fun seeing the character back on screen, but with Avengers: Infinity War on the horizon, is there room for the character to make a comeback? If so, Sam Rockwell is in. Interviewing with THR, the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri actor expressed his desire to appear on-screen as Justin Hammer once again:
“Of course! I have some great buddies in that franchise. Jeremy Renner is a good friend of mine, and I am pals with Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo. Robert Downey Jr. is always fun. Would love to get me and Clark Gregg back in that franchise. That would be a lot of fun.”
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It’s hard to think where Justin Hammer could fit into the third-act narrative the MCU has going on right now, but this could open up an interesting story for both Hammer, and… the real Mandarin possibly? It’s unlikely we will see Robert Downey Jr. in a solo flick again, but it would be interesting to give Rockwell another shot, and obviously to give The Mandarin the screen-time deserves.
