The Fixer is the name of two characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics: Roscoe Sweeney and Paul Norbert Ebersol.
Roscoe Sweeney was portrayed by Kevin Nagle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Daredevil while Paul Norbert Ebersol has appeared in animated media.
Publication history
The first Marvel Comics character known as the Fixer was Roscoe Sweeney. He first appeared in Daredevil #1 (Apr. 1964), and was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Bill Everett.
The second iteration of Fixer was long-time supervillain Paul Norbert Ebersol, first appearing in Strange Tales #141 (February 1966) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Much later, he appeared as a regular character in Thunderbolts, until he was forced to leave the team.
Fictional character biography
Roscoe Sweeney
Roscoe Sweeney was a gangster and crooked fight promoter who was involved in extortion and illegal gambling who operated as the "Fixer". He paid boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock to take a fall and lose a fight. Murdock accepted the money, however, the boxer became determined to continue the fight and eventually won by a knockout. The Fixer's right-hand man Slade killed Jack after the fight in retaliation. Learning of his father's murder and vowing to bring men like the Fixer to justice, Matt Murdock became a lawyer as well as the superhero Daredevil to do so. Fixer and Slade went to Fogwell's Gym where they encountered the Daredevil. When Fixer and Slade ran for it upon their being disarmed, the Daredevil pursued them into the subway station. After the Man Without Fear tripped Slade, the Fixer had a fatal heart attack when confronted by the Daredevil and died. As Fixer's body fell onto the subway tracks, the Man Without Fear stopped a subway from running over Fixer's body. Slade was arrested and sentenced to death by the electric chair.
Paul Norbert Ebersol
Paul Norbert Ebersol was born in Dayton, Ohio. He was a scientist who held a number of odd jobs, including auto mechanic, television repairman, and electronics laboratory assistant. He then became the second and more prominent "Fixer", a supervillain and genius-level criminal inventor who has often worked for criminal cartels like HYDRA.
In his first appearance, he escaped from prison, teamed with his partner Mentallo in an attempted takeover of the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and even captured Nick Fury. Fixer and Mentallo were defeated by Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. troops. His connection with THEM was revealed; and THEM was later revealed as part of HYDRA. Behind the scenes, he was even revealed as the chief of the HYDRA Science Division.
With Mentallo, the Fixer later escaped prison again. They invaded the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and captured the Thing. They then invaded the Baxter Building, battled the Thing and Nick Fury, and used Doctor Doom's time machine to bring Deathlok from his alternate future. Mentallo then mind-controlled Deathlok in an attempted assassination of the U.S. president, but Fixer and Mentallo were defeated by the Fantastic Four and taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. The pair was freed from prison by a HYDRA force controlled by Baron Karza. Fixer created the living machine-intelligence Computrex, which was destroyed by the Micronauts who then defeated Fixer and Mentallo.
Fixer and Mentallo then aided Professor Power in his attempt to add Professor X's powers to Mentallo's, but they were defeated by Spider-Man. Fixer attempted to loot Northwind Observatory of Bruce Banner's inventions, but was captured by Captain America. Fixer then invaded the West Coast Avengers Compound in an attempt to steal Iron Man's armor, but was defeated by Iron Man and Ka-Zar.
When Baron Helmut Zemo formed the fourth incarnation of the Masters of Evil, Fixer served as his right-hand man. When the Masters of Evil invaded Avengers Mansion, Fixer created a device enabling Baron Zemo to control Blackout. Fixer helped engineer the capture of Captain America, Black Knight, and Edwin Jarvis. Fixer was apprehended by Ant-Man. Behind the scenes, Fixer was overpowered by the Super-Adaptoid which changed places with him. The Super-Adaptoid disguised as the Fixer later escaped prison. The real Fixer was discovered by the Avengers in the android's former confinement tube at Avengers Island. Fixer later escaped prison with Yellowjacket who then spurned his romantic advances. The Fixer followed Yellowjacket and battled Yellowjacket and the Black Knight before escaping.