Universe
Marvel Universe

Real Name
Sinclair Abbot

Aliases
None

Identity
Secret

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Unrevealed

First Appearance
Iron Man: Inevitable #1 (2006)

Origin
Iron Man: Inevitable #1 (2006)

The enigmatic Sinclair Abbott, the wealthy entrepreneur and CEO of the Abbott Foundation, was a firm believer in traditional villainy. Discovering that his rival Tony Stark was Iron Man, Abbott had contacts in prison try to persuade Nathan Lemon to give up the Spymaster identity by nearly beating him to death and sending him to the infirmary. When that didn’t work, Sinclair used another agent disguised as a nurse to kill Lemon while making it look like an accidental death. Afterwards, Sinclair and his wife Greta began to antagonize Stark at various social events in hopes to push him psychologically over the edge.

As the new Spymaster, Sinclair convinced the Ghost to join him in destroying Iron Man, playing on the Ghost’s ego by describing Stark International as his biggest challenge. Spymaster sent the Ghost to retrieve a smart laser system capable of pre-programmed targeting, which held the human consciousness of the Living Laser (Arthur Parks), intending to turn it into a terrorist weapon. When the Ghost failed to retrieve the laser system twice, Spymaster terminated their alliance, leaving the Ghost to defend himself against Iron Man. The energy grid for the level holding the Living Laser overloaded during this battle, allowing the Living Laser to escape and killing Dr. Maggie Dillion, an understudy of Dr. Leonard Samson, who Stark hired to rehabilitate Parks.

Iron Man followed a delta frequency, recorded by Stark International’s security systems of Spymaster and Ghost’s conversations when Ghost attacked Stark International, to Spymaster’s hideout where Sinclair and his wife prepared for Stark’s arrival, planning to use the footage for public relations if needed. As Spymaster and Iron Man battled each other, the Living Laser followed Iron Man to the hideout and entered Sinclair’s computers, killing Greta. The Living Laser then turned his attention to Iron Man only to be captured, allowing Spymaster to escape in the process.

Spymaster was subsequently contracted by Karim Mahwash Najeeb, chairman of the World Islamic Peace Coalition, to kill Tony Stark. Spymaster tracked Stark down and attacked Harold “Happy” Hogan, leaving him on the ground to distract Stark. As Spymaster moved into an elevated position to use his sniper rifle, Hogan ambushed him; the two struggled, then fell to the pavement below. Spymaster’s battlesuit took the brunt of the fall and he escaped, leaving Hogan with severe internal injuries; Hogan apparently died soon afterwards. Stark briefly searched for Hogan’s killer, at one point even believing it might have been someone on Captain America (Steve Rogers)’s Secret Avengers, but has yet to discover the truth.