Supervillain Origins: Spymaster

Supervillain Origins: Spymaster

The good guys have Nick Fury as their super-spy, the bad guys have this dude. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of Spymaster.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen primarily to follow the storyline which unfolded in 1971's Iron man #33-36 and was expanded upon in 1990’s Iron Man #254 and 2006’s Iron Man: The Inevitable #1-2.

Three different people have taken on the persona of Spymaster, a brilliant tactician with a knack for infiltrating seemingly air-tight businesses and organizations. Let’s take a look at how they started.

The first Spymaster didn’t have a proper origin story. He debuted in a 1971 Iron Man story arc as the leader of the Espionage Elite, a gang of thieves who were hired by Zodiac to infiltrate Stark Industries. Spymaster’s team consisted of five highly trained and specialized individuals who worked together like a well-oiled machine. Over the course of the story, they managed to cause trouble for Iron Man and his allies, Daredevil and Madame Masque.

Perhaps appropriately, little was actually revealed about this Spymaster’s origins. He was essentially just a mercenary with a supreme talent for skullduggery.
Readers did learn a bit more about the second Spymaster, who appeared in 1990. Taskmaster, the costumed villain who is an expert at training other villains, held a competition among several of his most promising recruits. The students were competing to become the right hand man of Justin Hammer, another of Tony Stark’s archenemies. There would be one winner; the rest would die.

One student, a man known only as Number One, was clearly intent on not only survival, but winning. He had sabotaged the gun of one of his classmates, causing him to fail the first test. He next booby-trapped the room of another student. And in the final showdown with the remaining competitors, he ruthlessly dispatched them with ease.
The Taskmaster rewarded Number One with the costume of Spymaster. He still had one task left, however: to bring back the golden ornament on the Christmas tree at a Stark Enterprises party. Initially disguised as Santa, Spymaster went about his assignment. Iron Man appeared, of course, but was forced to let the villain free in order to avoid putting innocent lives in danger. And thus was born the second Spymaster.

2006 saw the birth of the third Spymaster. Sinclair Abbott was seemingly a wealthy philanthropist, but he had a fondness for the darker side of things. Abbott contacted another Iron Man villain, the Ghost, to propose a team-up. As they talked, readers were reminded that the Ghost had killed the original Spymaster. They also learned that Sinclair Abbott had recently had the second Spymaster killed, leaving the way open for him to take on the identity himself.

Exactly why Abbott was intent on becoming a villain was unclear. However, part of it was simply ego. He felt that villains were defined by the heroes they fought. Tony Stark had recently admitted he was Iron Man and was now claiming someone else had taken over as the Armored Avenger. Abbott believed this was insulting and felt that it was incumbent upon his foes to teach Iron Man a lesson. Besides, Stark had recently latched onto some impressive weaponry that Abbott wanted for himself. And so Abbott struck out as Spymaster, hoping third time would be the charm.

While none of the various Spymasters have possessed super powers, they each have been supreme strategists and excellent fighters. With their inclination for sabotage and their willingness to do anything to accomplish their goals, they have been deadly enemies for any superhero who crosses their paths.

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