Sledgehammer (Marvel Comics)

Sledgehammer first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man # 113 (October, 1972) and was created by screenwriter Garry Covey and artist John Romita Sr.

In a special interview with Spider-Man and Other Amazing Comics Heroes # 3, Harry Conway noted that he drew inspiration from Dick Tracy when creating this character.

The Sledgehammer family immigrated from Italy to Russia when he was a child. His father made young Joseph speak only Russian, while beating up if he didn’t succeed. Not much is known about his past life, but before he became a villain, he was a loving brother.

All this time he dreamed of becoming a gangster. He was eventually recruited by a gangster family in New York, known as Maggia. Joseph quickly moved up the career ladder, while hiding his Russian origin, since, according to him, they could have been “removed”. His last test was the murder of his own father. At the same time, Joseph severely beat him and spoke to him in Russian how much he hated him ^[2] .

Once Joseph was seriously injured. Dr. Jonas Harrow, who was thinking illegal medical experiments, picked him up in one of the alleys of New York and replaced the damaged bandit skull and made it hard as steel. Sledgehammer forgot everything except the criminal past. His only recollection was the poster of Al Capone . Sledgehammer decided to assemble his own mafia gang in the style of the 1930s. He dressed up in a gangster costume and decided to become the new crime boss of New York.

Sledgehammer opposed anyone who stood in his way, including Dr. Octopus , Kingpin, and Don Fortunato from Magic.

During the Civil War, Wilson Fisk hired a killer to destroy the Sledgehammer, but Mr. Negativity saved him. He transferred the gangster’s brain to the body of the robot, and in gratitude, he still faithfully serves the new owner.

The sledgehammer does not possess any superhuman abilities, however, as a result of a surgical operation, his skull was strengthened by the adamantium, due to which he became very strong. Thus, a sledgehammer can penetrate objects such as a brick wall, while not taking any damage. This metal is capable of absorbing physical effects that could break ordinary human bones. Sledgehammer is an athlete of the Olympic level. He is a dangerous fighter in the field of hand-to-hand combat, and his head-kick is considered to be his most powerful hit. Once he used an exo-skeleton developed by Tinkerer .

After a bullet from the adamantiumum pierced his adamantium skull, the Sledgehammer was rebuilt by Mr. Negative. As a result of the new operation, the upper part of the Sledgehammer became heavy-duty, which made him virtually a cyborg. Despite the fact that Mr. Negative did not saturate the skeleton of the Sledgehammer with the adamantium, as was the case with Wolverine and Lady Mortal Strike , he replaced it with an artificial one.

After interference from Mr. Negative, Sledgehammer began to act like a Russian gangster and stopped being a gangster in the American era of the 1930s. He is an excellent criminal organizer and charismatic leader. In battle, he usually uses weapons such as Thompson's submachine gun .

House of M

In reality, Maul’s Day is one of the crime bosses and leader of the gang that was defeated by Luke Cage .

Marvel Zombies

In Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness Sledgehammer appears briefly with Eagle Owl to discuss the outbreak of the zombie virus. He was eventually killed by the Punisher .

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Sledgehammer first appears in Ultimate X-Men , where he acts as the gangster who killed the little girl’s parents. Soon he encounters Gambit , who charges his skull with kinetic energy, which leads to an explosion of the skull. It became known that his name was Joseph ^[3] .

Sledgehammer returns in the comic book Ultimate Spider-Man , where he plans to take control of the underworld of New York and seize the territory of Kingpin. Before that, he kills Silvermein. After a fierce battle against Spider-Man, Black Cat , Moon Knight , Iron Fist and Shan Chi, he fell into a coma when Electra pierced his chest with sais and threw it out the window ^[4] .

Age of Ultron

In reality, the Age of Ultron , where the human race was almost completely destroyed, Sledgehammer and Eagle Owl capture the Superb Spider-Man , hoping to exchange it for Ultron . To help him comes the Hawkeye (Marvel Comics) ^[5] .

Earth-001

During Spider-Verse , the reality of Earth-001, Sledgehammer is a member of the Verne Hounds ^[6] .

Television

• In the 1981 animated series Spider-Man, Sledgehammer appears in the episode "Anger of the Submariner." He, along with Silvermein, Man Mount Marco, and Caesar Cicero, meets Kingpin during the presentation of Dr. Everett.
• Sledgehammer appears in the animated series " Spider-Man " in the series "The Cunning Six" and "The Battle with the Cunning Six, voiced by Nicky Blair as one of the bosses of the underworld and Silvermein's ally. Mafiosi agree that Fisk has lost its influence, because of which they are trying to overthrow him from criminal rule. In response, Kingpin claims that he will destroy Spider-Man with the help of the Cunning Six . His appearance is used by the Chameleon to kidnap Silvermein. Later, Sledgehammer was hired again by Silvermein to abduct the Plate of Time, but Spider-Man gets in his way. The stove is sent for study to Dr. Kurt Connors . Sledgehammer decides to betray Silvermein and transfers to the position of Kingpin. He sends him to capture the daughter of Silvermein, Alice. During the exchange of Alice for Vanessa, Fisk Sledgehammer is trying to capture the first, but her ^{[ whom? ]} stops Spider-Man. The hero himself falls into her trap and Alice flies away with him in a helicopter. Subsequently, the Sledgehammer enters the temple built by Silvermein and abducts the Plate of Time. He is trying to give the stove to Kinkpin, but he demands that he get rid of it. And the Sledgehammer sells the Plate to Adrian Thoms . In the Russian translation of the animated series called Hard-Forehead.
• Sledgehammer, voiced by John Di Maggio , appears in the animated series "The New Adventures of Spider-Man ." In the Russian translation of the animated series called Hammerhead.
• Sledgehammer appears in the animated series Perfect Spider-Man and also has an alternative version of himself from the Noir universe.
• Sledgehammer appears in the animated series Spider-Man 2017 in the series “Eccentric on Air!” And orders the Absorber to get a flash drive in one of the jewelry stores until he is interrupted by Spider-Man and Eccentric .

Video Games

• Sledgehammer appears in the game "Spider-Man Animated Series", developed on the basis of the 1994 animated series.
• Sledgehammer is one of the bosses of Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro , where he was voiced by Dee Bradley Breaker .
• Sledgehammer acts as one of the bosses in the game "Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace", where he is a minion of Mysterio and enters into a confrontation with the main character.
• In the game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions , Sledgehammer acts as an antagonist of Noir Spider-Man. The character himself was again voiced by John Di Mojo.
• Sledgehammer appears as one of the bosses of the Marvel: Avengers Alliance game for Facebook .
• Sledgehammer appears in the mobile version of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
• The Sledgehammer appears in the Silver Beam add-on for PlayStation 4's exclusive Marvel's Spider-Man.

Theater

• Sledgehammer appears in the theatrical production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark . He was spotted with Kingpin during a bank robbery.

• Sledgehammer on Marvel.com
• Sledgehammer on Marvel.wikia.com
• Sledgehammer on Comicvine.com