Spymaster (character)

Spymaster is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily as enemies of Iron Man.^[1] The first Spymaster debuted in Iron Man #33 (January 1971), and was created by Allyn Brodsky, Don Heck, and Stan Lee.^[2]

The original Spymaster is a costumed freelance industrial spy, saboteur, and assassin with advanced weaponry. He and his team of assistants, the Espionage Elite, battle Iron Man and other heroes on numerous occasions.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

Spymaster last appears after coming into conflict with the Ghost, who kills him by phasing him into a wall.^{[7] [8]} Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe reveals that the Spymaster who died is a separate individual named Mark Sharen.^[9]

In the Infinity storyline, Spymaster recruits Blizzard, Constrictor, Firebrand, Unicorn, Whiplash, and Whirlwind to attack Stark Tower.^[10]

The second Spymaster, Nathan Lemon, is an accomplished student of the Taskmaster who assumes the Spymaster mantle after killing all other contenders in a battleground simulator.^[11] Additionally, he learns Iron Man's secret identity after spying on him and Pepper Potts.^[12] In Iron Man: Inevitable, Lemon is killed by Sinclair Abbot, who becomes Spymaster.^[13]

Sinclair Abbot, a wealthy industrialist, is the latest person to hold the Spymaster mantle. He achieved this by having Nathan Lemon arrested, beaten in jail, and then killed by his wife. Unlike the previous Spymasters, he does not battle Iron Man directly.^[14]

During Civil War , the Spymaster is hired by World Islamic Peace Coalition chairman Karim Najeeb to kill Iron Man. Happy Hogan attacks Spymaster and sustains severe injuries that he later dies from.^{[15] [16]}

After being defeated and rendered powerless during an attempted assault on Stark Resilient, Spymaster commits "suicide by cop" and is shot by the policemen guarding him.^[17] He is later revealed to be alive and battles Iron Man and Ironheart, who uses one of Mandarin's rings to banish him to the Darkforce Dimension.^[18]

Each Spymaster has no superhuman abilities. However, each is an exceptional fighter and strategist. The first Spymaster was an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, with formal training in boxing and various martial arts. The second Spymaster is also an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained at the Taskmaster's Academy. Each is also an extraordinary industrial spy and saboteur, master of disguise, a superb actor, a highly agile and skilled athlete, and greatly skilled in the uses of virtually any kind of gun. Spymaster has access to cutting-edge technology for a number of espionage-related devices and weapons, both of his own design and those of Justin Hammer's. The original Spymaster used various special devices including, devices in his gloves and mask that projected concussive energy blasts, small and powerful hovering electromagnets, incendiary missiles, "razor-discs" that could pierce Iron Man's armor, devices that enabled him to absorb Iron Man's repulsor energy, stunguns, sleep inducing "somnu-gas", boot jets that allowed flight, and a device in his belt buckle that summoned an advanced model hovercraft that could operate automatically according to pre-programmed instructions. Both the first and second Spymasters have employed electronically amplified nun-chakas that can damage Iron Man's armor. The Spymaster wears bulletproof Kevlar body armor which provides some protection from physical attacks, and contains various pockets for holding weaponry.

An unidentified Spymaster appears in The Incredible Hulk episode "Prisoner of the Monster".^{[citation needed ]}

• Spymaster I at Marvel.com
• Spymaster II at Marvel.com
• Spymaster III at Marvel.com