Tinkerer

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. His next encounter with Spider-Man resulted in deploying the Toy, a hi-tech robot that serves as an assistant and lackey. Toy also helped Tinkerer escape from his hideout when it was raided by the police.

He is known to have created the suit for Mysterio, a man that once worked as one of his alien-suited servants. He created the Scorpion's tail, and much later he was hired by the Kingpin to rebuild the Spider-Mobile to destroy Spider-Man.

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

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

He has worked for Hammerhead, the Beetle (Abner Jenkins), the Black Cat, the Jack O'Lantern, Owl, the Ani-Men, Jester I, 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 his weapon gauntlets. At delivery time, the criminal decided to use them to threaten the inventor and avoid paying. The gauntlets backfired on Killer Shrike, wounding and immobilizing him due to a failsafe the Tinkerer engineers into his products for such situations.

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. The Tinkerer is arrested off-panel.

His son Agent (Rick Mason) was a world-class spy for the American government and freelance operative. Despite his father and he being on opposite sides of the law, they remained on good terms and met frequently. Tinkerer even aided his son from time to time, and once provided Rick with information about a South American coup. After Rick was seemingly killed in action, a grief-stricken Tinkerer decided to mend his ways while still maintaining links to supervillains to give him 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 them. Killer Shrike was struck down by Tinkerer's security systems, and the 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.

Frank Castle finds and confronts Tinkerer after a confrontation with the murderous Stilt-Man. 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 became 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.

Phineas, now bound to a wheelchair in Wolverine: Origins #12, has been contracted by the resurrected villain Silas "Cyber" Burr to subject his new body to the Adamantium-Epidermal Bonding Process. Phineas, during Wolverine: Origins #15, 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 his chest and that Logan has disappeared with the C-synth. Phineas is last seen in the clutches of an enraged Cyber.

He survived his encounter with Cyber, however, and 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, Johnny Storm, the Ben Grimm, Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards free him from Prison 42 to help them return to the Earth dimension. It is mentioned that Phineas had retired as Tinkerer, but was imprisoned for breaking the Registration Act anyway. He is initially reluctant to help his old foes, but the resemblance of Franklin and Valeria to his own grandchildren causes him to relent.

It was revealed in Ms. Marvel that Rick is in fact still alive, under deep cover, and killed a deep cover CIA agent whom assisted in Carol Danvers's murder for Norman Osborn in exchange for Phineas's release and a cleared record for Phineas.

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

The Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) later visits Tinkerer to have his gear upgraded so that he can evade the 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 him.

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.

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.

The Ultimate version of Tinkerer is original character Elijah Stern rendered by artist Mark Bagley to resemble actor Paul Giamatti as per writer Brian Michael Bendis's instructions. The original character was a former employee of the Roxxon Corporation after he discovered a way to use vibranium as a power source, and a key indicator of his alias is when he stated that he merely "tinkers". Vindictive, Stern 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 S.H.I.E.L.D. or die. Choosing to work, Elijah impressed Nick Fury with a robot. Elijah later appears commanding the Spider-Slayers to destroy the creature that was Gwen Stacy's clone to Carnage. Elijah showed an evil side when he secretly ordered the Spider-Slayers to arrive at Queens. While repairing the Beetle suit, Stern is 'motivated' accommodate the Ultimate Six weapons as part of the Green Goblin's plot to kill Spider-Man (Peter Parker) by upgrading Drago's Vulture suit and giving a set of blasters and knives to Kraven the Hunter. The Prowler (Aaron Davis) later breaks into Tinkerer's lab to blame Stern for bad tech. Tinkerer then gets interrogated by Prowler about Green Goblin. Confused about the questions, Tinkerer is then killed in cold blood after Prowler realized things about the new Spider-Man (Miles Morales).

Television

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. Phineas Mason worked alongside Quentin Beck under the Chameleon's employ until being arrested at the end of the episode. Phineas assumes the 'Tinkerer' identity in the episode "Blueprints". He designed Mysterio's gear and devices. Following Spider-Man taking out Mysterio's android doubles, Mysterio talks with Tinkerer who asks why he made the android controlling the others look like him. Tinkerer tells the Master Planner that everything Mysterio stole has not been found in the warehouse that he was hiding in. Tinkerer later oversees the Sinister Six and works as Master Planner's second-in-command. The Big Man hires Tinkerer in the episode "Probable Cause" to create/upgrade the Enforcers' power suits: Montana's Shocker gauntlets, Fancy Dan's Ricochet suit and Ox's power suit.

Film

Michael Chernus will play the Tinkerer in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Video games