Justin Hammer is a military contractor, and the former CEO of Hammer Industries who had formed a strong business rivalry with Stark Industries. Seeking to improve his own position and attack Tony Stark, Hammer had worked alongside Stern and attempted to damage the public's own view of Stark; however, this all backfired and Hammer's own public image was highly damaged. Furious at Stark for this failure, Hammer then recruited Ivan Vanko, the convicted terrorist, to attempt to replicate Stark's Arc Reactor technology, but this backfired as well when Vanko betrayed Hammer, leading into Hammer then being incarcerated inside of Seagate Penitentiary for his involvement in Vanko's actions.