Tinkerer (Marvel Comics)

The Tinkerer (Phineas Mason) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as an adversary of the superhero Spider-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963),[1] and is generally depicted as a genius in engineering, who is able to create gadgets from nothing more than spare parts left over from ordinary household appliances. When not trying to eliminate Spider-Man himself, the Tinkerer is usually under the employ of other supervillains, whom he supplies with his gadgets for their personal vendettas against Spider-Man or other heroes.

Tinkerer
Tinkerer (Phineas Mason) from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition.
Art by Peter Poplaski.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963)
Created byStan Lee
Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter egoPhineas Mason
Team affiliationsMasters of Evil
Notable aliasesThe Terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Walker
AbilitiesExpert weapons designer and manufacturer
Scientific Genius
Extensive scientific knowledge

The character has made several appearances in media outside of comics, including television and video games. The Tinkerer made his cinematic debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), portrayed by Michael Chernus.

Publication history

The Tinkerer is a character that was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, as part of the original publication of The Amazing Spider-Man and made his first initial appearance in April 1963 in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 opposing Spider-Man as a villain.[2][3] It would, however, be several years before he would return, and in September 1976 in The Amazing Spider-Man #160 made his second appearance, once again opposing Spider-Man in a losing effort.[4]

In July 1978, the Tinkerer would be mentioned in The Amazing Spider-Man #182. This became his first mention in the publication as a supporting side character to the other villains.[5]

Fictional character biography

Phineas Mason is a brilliant inventor and technician who designs advanced weaponry for criminals and sometimes undertakes crimes of his own. As the "Terrible Tinkerer", he runs an underground fix-it shop disguised as a radio repair shop. On at least one occasion, a potential customer gained the inventor's attention by presenting a transistor radio and telling Mason that "I've got a radio that just can't carry a tune". Tinkerer's original scheme involved the employment of a team of petty has-been stuntmen and thugs. They specialized in placing bugs into radios and blackmailing state officials and politicians. Tinkerer tried to present himself as an alien to confuse his pursuers by leaving behind a mask that looked like his face when he escaped from Spider-Man in a hovercraft shaped like a flying saucer.[6][7]

The Tinkerer's next encounter with Spider-Man resulted in deploying the Toy, a hi-tech robot that serves as an assistant and lackey.[8] The Toy also helped Tinkerer escape from his hideout when raided by the police.[9]

Tinkerer is known to have created the suit for Mysterio, a man that once worked as one of his alien-suited servants.[10] Much later, he was hired by the Kingpin to rebuild the Spider-Mobile to destroy Spider-Man.[11]

Tinkerer redesigned Rocket Racer's rocket-powered skateboard,[12] designed an armed wheel-shaped vehicle called the Big Wheel,[13] and repaired the Goldbug's bug-ship.[14] He robbed loan companies by using remote-controlled toys until stopped by Spider-Man.[15]

Tinkerer also provided Whirlwind with improved armor and weaponry,[16] provided Diamondback with new throwing diamonds,[17] built the Grim Reaper's scythe-like weapon,[18] and even fixed Grizzly's exo-skeleton harness and grizzly suit.[19]

He has worked for Hammerhead,[20] the Beetle (Abner Jenkins),[21] the Black Cat,[22] the Jack O'Lantern, Owl, the Ani-Men, Jester, and the Constrictor.

Since he is a small business operator who works alone (and arms criminals), the Terrible Tinkerer takes precautions to prevent being cheated. For instance, Killer Shrike commissioned Tinkerer to improve weapon gauntlets. At delivery time, the criminal decided to use the weapons to threaten the inventor and avoid paying. The gauntlets backfired on Killer Shrike, wounding and immobilizing due to a failsafe Tinkerer engineers into his products for such situations.[23]

Phineas is forced to work for the Vulture (Adrian Toomes) interested in freeing Nitro from custody. This falls apart when the heroic mutants Rusty Collins and Skids chance upon the situation and defeat the villains. Tinkerer is arrested off-panel.[24]

Trapster later sued Tinkerer for selling faulty equipment. Trapster's character witnesses in the case against Tinkerer include Beetle, Blacklash, Blizzard, Boomerang, Jack O'Lantern, Mad Thinker, Porcupine, Ringer, Stilt-Man, Spymaster and Taskmaster. When Taskmaster accuses the other villains of not properly using the equipment that Tinkerer provided, it resulted in an in-court brawl that was broken up by She-Hulk which leads to the villains getting arrested. When Tinkerer and Mad Thinker ask She-Hulk who is superior, She-Hulk says to sort it out themselves and storms off.[25]

His son Rick Mason is a world-class mercenary for the American government and freelance operative. Despite the two being on opposite sides of the law, father and son remained on good terms and met frequently. Tinkerer even aided his son from time to time, and once provided Rick with information about a coup in South America.[26] After Rick was seemingly killed in action, the grief-stricken father decided to mend his ways while still maintaining links to supervillains to give information he could discreetly pass along.

In the Secret War miniseries, Nick Fury discovered a link between the weaponry of most of the known technology-based villains in the Marvel Universe and the kingdom of Latveria. Tinkerer was revealed to have received a vast portion of his funding and presumably the resources and technology from which he has developed most of his clients' arsenals over the years from Latveria. This was part of an ongoing "terrorist" initiative fostered by the kingdom's despotic leader Doctor Doom and minion Countess Luciana Von Bardas.

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discovered Tinkerer's workshop by using Killer Shrike as a mole. When the agents converged on the workshop, the canny villain detected this. Killer Shrike was struck down by Tinkerer's security systems, and Tinkerer fled to Latveria rather than face justice.

Early in the Marvel Knights imprint of Spider-Man, Eddie Brock sells the Venom symbiote through an auction put on by Tinkerer.[27]

Frank Castle finds and confronts Tinkerer after a confrontation with the murderous Stilt-Man to which Tinkerer begs for death. Not only was his son Rick dead, but Rick's own son perished in the Stamford, Connecticut explosion that heralded the beginning of the Civil War. Without his beloved son or grandson, he was suicidal and continued his work in the hope that both superheroes and supervillains would wipe each other out. Castle stabs Tinkerer in the back, likely leaving him paralyzed.[28]

Now bound to a wheelchair, Phineas has been contracted by Silas "Cyber" Burr to subject the resurrected villain's new body to the Adamantium-epidermal bonding process. Phineas agrees to create a "pacemaker" for the ailing Cyber's heart condition, as well as three carbonadium bullets for Logan in exchange for the use of Logan's mysterious carbonadium synthesizer. Cyber awakens from the procedure to discover the deadly radioactive device permanently attached to the chest and that Logan has disappeared with the C-synth. Phineas is last seen in the enraged Cyber's clutches.[29]

Surviving his encounter with Cyber, he is seen attending the Survivors' Guild, a therapy group for survivors of the Punisher. He is later apprehended by Iron Man for ties to a super WMD black market.

During the Secret Invasion storyline, he is freed from Prison 42 to help Johnny Storm, the Ben Grimm, Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards return to the Earth dimension. It is mentioned that Phineas had retired the Tinkerer identity but is imprisoned for breaking the Registration Act anyway. He is initially reluctant to help his old foes, but Franklin's and Valeria's resemblance to his own grandchildren causes him to relent.[30]

It was revealed Rick is in fact still alive, under deep cover, and in a conspiracy which resulted in Carol Danvers's apparent murder for Norman Osborn in exchange for Phineas's release and cleared record.[31]

Tinkerer is later seen in jail where he repairs Hypno-Hustler's costume.[32]

Phil Urich later visits Tinkerer to have the Hobgoblin's gear upgraded to evade Superior Spider-Man. It is shown that Tinkerer has taken in Tiberius Stone as a secret apprentice as Tiberius gets revenge on Hobgoblin by making it so that Hobgoblin's tech fails.[33]

Powers and abilities

The Tinkerer has a genius intellect, with extensive knowledge in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. He has a high degree of expertise in the design and manufacture of inventive weapons and devices derived from pre-existing technologies. Tinkerer has invented a wide variety of scientific and technological devices, and often has access to these devices as needed. Tinkerer's advanced age limits his physical abilities, and he possesses no superhuman abilities.

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Phineas Mason is a scientific prodigy at Nursery Two, one of the think tanks of young geniuses sponsored by the U.S. government. The Mole Man kidnapped Mason and his fellow students with the intention of using them to seed a new underground civilization in Subterranea. With Fantastic Four's help, the Nursery Two students defeated Mole Man. Rather than return to their lives above ground, Mason and his teammates opted to stay behind and start a civilization on their own terms.[34]

The Ultimate version of Tinkerer is Elijah Stern, an original character who resembles actor Paul Giamatti.[35] This original iteration was a former employee of the Roxxon Corporation after discovering a way to use vibranium as a power source, and a key indicator of his alias is when he states that he merely "tinkers". Elijah vindictively hires Killer Shrike, Omega Red and the Vulture (Blackie Drago) to torment his former boss Donald Roxxon as revenge for being fired. When his plan was foiled, he is given a choice to work for Nick Fury or death.[36] Choosing to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., Elijah later commands his Spider-Slayer robots in going after Spider-Man (Peter Parker), showing a sadistic side.[37] While repairing the Beetle's suit, Elijah is approached to accommodate a group of villains with weapons to which the Green Goblin "motivates" him to help, doing so by giving the Vulture suit and allowing Kraven the Hunter a set of blasters and knives.[38] The Prowler (Aaron Davis) later breaks into Elijah's lab. Elijah then gets interrogated by Prowler about Norman Osborn. Confused about the questions, Elijah is then killed in cold blood once Prowler realized things about the new Spider-Man (Miles Morales).[39]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows

During the "Secret Wars" storyline in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, a version of Tinkerer resides in the Battleworld domain of The Regency. When Regent defeated every superhero, Tinkerer gave up a life of crime and started a fix-it shop. When Spider-Man came to him for Inhibitor Chips, Tinkerer stalled until the Sinister Six could arrive. Though Spider-Man managed to steal the Inhibitor Chips and escape.[40]

In other media

Television
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez. This version is depicted as younger and with more hair than his original counterpart. In the season one episode "Persona", he works alongside Quentin Beck under the Chameleon until he was arrested. By the season two episode "Blueprints", he has assumed the Tinkerer identity and joined the Master Planner as his right-hand man. Mason also designed Beck's equipment after he became Mysterio and overseeing the Sinister Six's work. In "Probable Cause", Tombstone hires Mason to create power suits for the Enforcers.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears in the 2010s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Aaron Abrams. In the episode "How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation", he uses a special wand to rig a baseball game before he is easily subdued by Spider-Man.[41] In "The Day Without Spider-Man", the Tinkerer joins forces with the Scorpion to eliminate Spider-Man. After acquiring the Blood Gem, the Tinkerer uses the ancient jewel to enhance Scorpion's powers, but both villains are ultimately defeated by Ghost Spider, Spy-D, and Spider-Girl, and arrested.[42]

Film
  • Michael Chernus portrays Phineas Mason / Tinkerer in Spider-Man: Homecoming.[43] Depicted around Elijah Stern's age, he is a weapons maker and part of a salvage company alongside Adrian Toomes, Herman Schultz, and Jackson Brice. When the salvaging company goes out of business due to Damage Control, Phineas helps Toomes steal leftover technology from the Avengers' battles and build advanced weapons out of them, such as Toomes' Vulture suit and modified versions of Crossbones' vibro-blast emitting gauntlets. While his associates were defeated by Spider-Man and arrested by the authorities, Mason's fate is left unknown.

Video games
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears as the first boss in the Master System version of Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears in the 1995 Spider-Man video game. He serves as a boss in the Sega Genesis version, but only makes a cameo appearance in the SNES version.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by William Utay. He is broken out of Ryker's Island by Spider-Man to help stop the symbiote invasion and designs a large sonic device capable of destroying the symbiotes without harming their hosts.
    • In the PS2 and PSP versions of the game, the Tinkerer is a boss who plans to spread the symbiotes to other cities across the world using a missile. To this end, he captured and brainwashed Venom for his experiments. Spider-Man fights the Tinkerer and defeats him, but the latter escapes. Despite this, Spider-Man prevents the missile from being launched and has the option of firing it at the Tinkerer as revenge.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer is the main antagonist of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Philip Proctor. He supplies Lucia von Bardas and other supervillains with technology when the heroes discover his work, though Mason sends robotic soldiers to attack them and buy him time to escape. He is later recruited by Nick Fury after claiming to know how who is controlling the Fold, a nanite hive mind that has brainwashed supervillains Iron Man injected control nanites into. However, the heroes later discover Mason is the mastermind and confront him in Reykjavík, Iceland. Though he attempts to distract them again while he attempts to jam the nanite stasis signal, the heroes follow him and knock him out.
    • In the Wii, PS2, and PSP versions of the game, the Tinkerer plays a similar role, except he is defeated when the heroes destroy his androids.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears as a boss exclusively in the Nintendo DS version of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Jim Cummings in a homage to Sterling Holloway. He utilizes a fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to power a machine to create an army of robots. However, Spider-Man tracks him down and destroys it. Before Spider-Man takes the fragment from him, Tinkerer gloats that he had already sold an army of robots to Electro.
  • The Phineas Mason version of Tinkerer appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Kevin Coello.[44] He is also a mini-boss in the game's open world map.
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