Sam Rockwell has expressed his wishes to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sam Rockwell is best known for his works in films like Vice, Jojo Rabbit, Moon, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And then, of course, there is his Academy Award-winning performance in Three 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.

In Iron 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.

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There’s no telling what became of Hammer after the world-changing events of Infinity War and Endgame, but actor Sam Rockwell is eager to find out. In a recent interview with The Discourse, Rockwell revealed that he wants to be in the newly announced Thunderbolts movie.

Check out his statement:

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 in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law as Emil Blonsky/Abomination, fourteen years after his last appearance in The Incredible Hulk. Kevin Feige also confirmed at D23 that Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns from the same movie would return for Captain America: New World Order, playing The Leader.

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.

Given how Thunderbolts would 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!

Thunderbolts Rounding Up Some Huge Names

     Marvel Comics 

Kevin Feige first announced Thunderbolts at San Diego Comic-Con and then unveiled the team at the D23 Expo. The grounds for Thunderbolts were first laid in The 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?

Thunderbolts is slated to release on July 24, 2024. The film will be the final film of Phase Five and will be followed by Phase Six’s initial entry, Fantastic Four. By the time Thunderbolts hit the theaters, we would have witnessed several changes in the MCU. Several multiversal entries would have changed the course of events in the franchise, and Thunderbolts may likely deal with that threat.