Romanoff attended the next Stark Expo, where Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries, unveiled his new Hammer drones and the War Machine armor worn by James Rhodes. Stark also arrived uninvited in his new and improved Iron Man armor to warn Rhodes about an impending attack from Ivan Vanko. It was then that Vanko surprised everyone by remotely gaining control of both the Hammer drones and the War Machine armor. While Stark led the immediate threat of the machines away from the expo, Potts and Romanoff confronted Hammer demanding to know Vanko's location. Romanoff put him in a neck lock and broke one of his glasses' lenses to force his confession. She then had Happy Hogan drive her to the nearest Hammer Industries facility, where Vanko was controlling the drones.