The Tinkerer (Phineas Mason) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary of the superhero Spider-Man and the father of Rick Mason. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963).[1] The Tinkerer is generally depicted as a genius in engineering who is able to create gadgets from nothing more than spare parts left over from ordinary household appliances. While in his initial appearances he sought to personally eliminate Spider-Man, more recent storylines depict him under the employ of other supervillains, whom he supplies with his gadgets for their personal vendettas against Spider-Man or other heroes. Since his introduction in comics, the character has been adapted into several other forms of media, such as animated television series and video games. The Tinkerer made his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), portrayed by Michael Chernus.