The Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Throughout her history, Black Cat has been an enemy, love interest, and ally of the superhero Spider-Man. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Dave Cockrum, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979).
Felicia Hardy is the daughter of Walter Hardy, a world-renowned cat burglar. After suffering a traumatic experience as a college freshman, she trained herself in various fighting styles and acrobatics and, after deciding to follow in her father's footsteps, adopted the costumed identity of the Black Cat. As Black Cat, she has the subconscious ability to affect probability fields, producing "bad luck" for her enemies. The character was originally a supervillain and adversary of Spider-Man, but over time the two fell in love, which motivated her into becoming an antiheroine and his partner. However, their relationship grew complicated after it became apparent that Black Cat was only attracted to the alter ego of Spider-Man and had little interest in the hero's civilian life as Peter Parker. After their break-up, Black Cat maintained her role as one of Spider-Man's most trusted allies and for years the pair shared on-again, off-again romance before she eventually lapsed back into her criminal ways.
Being a part of his supporting cast and one of his principle love interests, Black Cat has been featured in many media adaptations related to Spider-Man.
Publication history
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In 1979, creator Marv Wolfman was looking for a female foil for Spider-Woman. He decided to base a character on a Tex Avery cartoon "Bad Luck Blackie", in which a black cat brought misfortune to anyone in close proximity. The Black Cat's costume and appearance were designed by Dave Cockrum.
When Wolfman changed writing assignments within Marvel Comics to The Amazing Spider-Man, he brought his character with him. He and Cockrum made considerable changes to the character and her appearance over this time; the Black Cat intended to debut in Spider-Woman had only her name and powers in common with the one who finally appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man. On the bottom of the letters page of The Amazing Spider-Man #194, a thumbnail of the intended cover for Spider-Woman #9 appears along with a rejected cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #194. Wolfman said in an interview, "I didn't plan Black Cat to be in Spidey. I created her for Spider-Woman (look at the letter column of the first B.C. story and you’ll see). I then decided to leave Spider-Woman and moved her over. So, I never even thought of Catwoman when I did her. I got the idea for her from a Tex Avery cartoon, Bad Luck Blackie."
Writer/director Kevin Smith began writing the Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do miniseries in 2002. After the third issue the series went on a hiatus until 2005, when Smith revealed he had finally finished writing the scripts. Smith has stated, "While I have zero defense for my lateness (particularly when folks like Bendis turn out great stories in multiple books on a monthly basis), I will say this: it's a much better story now than it would've been had I completed it back in '02."
In the mid-2000s, she starred alongside Wolverine in a limited comic book miniseries titled Claws. A sequel to this miniseries, entitled Claws II, began publication in July 2011. Black Cat was a lead character in the 2006-2007 Heroes for Hire series.
Fictional character biography
Felicia Hardy was born in Queens, New York. Her father Walter pretended to be a traveling salesman but was a world-renowned cat burglar who, before his arrest, encouraged her to never settle for second best. If she loved basketball, she should work to become a basketball player and not just a cheerleader.
In Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do, Black Cat herself reveals that as a freshman at Empire State University, she was raped by her boyfriend Ryan. Hating the idea of being a victim, she trained herself in various fighting styles and acrobatics, intent on killing her rapist. Finally, after months of preparing, she set out for revenge, but before she could find him, Ryan was killed in a drunk driving accident. Furious that she was denied the chance for revenge, Hardy decided to utilize her new skills to follow in her father's footsteps. After amassing a fortune in stolen items, Felicia adopted her costumed identity.
She first dons the Black Cat costume in order to break her father out of prison. On the same night, she meets Spider-Man. Her father dies, and she then fakes her own death. Despite her antipathy towards men, Felicia feels a kinship with this lone hero; Spider-Man is the first man she felt she could trust and she grows to believe herself in love with him. Felicia looks for a way to earn his trust and continues with the Black Cat persona as a misguided attempt to attract his affection. Seeing the good in Felicia, Spider-Man makes every attempt to have her criminal record expunged.
Felicia is placed in a mental institution but escapes. She joins forces with Spider-Man against the Maggia. She is granted conditional amnesty, and again convinces Spider-Man that she has died.
The Black Cat finally finds the opportunity to prove herself after learning the Kingpin controls an incredibly powerful detonator. The Owl plans to use the weapon to hold New York City hostage. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus plans to use the weapon to destroy the city altogether. However, the Black Cat uses her abilities to steal the item first and protect it from all parties. She gives the detonator to Spider-Man and becomes the target of Doctor Octopus' revenge. Although Spider-Man tears off his mechanical appendages, Octopus is still able to mentally control them and hold the Black Cat still while his men open fire. Spider-Man barely gets her to the hospital in time and as they operate on the dozens of bullet and knife wounds, Peter realizes just how much he cares for Felicia.
After she recovers, they begin a relationship and soon Peter reveals his identity to her. Felicia has difficulty accepting the fact that Peter is just a man beneath the mask and cannot understand his need for a civilian life. Peter is hurt, but continues the relationship since it was the first time he did not need to hide his life as Spider-Man from someone.
Initially, the "accidents" which seem to befall those who crossed the Black Cat's path are merely well-planned stunts and traps. After her near-death experience, Felicia fears her lack of superpowers make her a liability to Spider-Man. She is terrified that his overwhelming need to protect her will eventually get him killed, so Felicia seeks a way to make herself Spider-Man's equal. Felicia is offered an opportunity to undergo the same process that was used to create the Scorpion and the Human Fly. The Kingpin uses it on the Black Cat as payback for a theft she committed. Scared and ashamed of being empowered by the Kingpin of crime, she keeps her new abilities a secret from Peter. Her 'bad luck' power turns out to be infectious, and begins to jinx Spider-Man, which was exactly the Kingpin's intent. Feeling a wall of secrets growing between them, Spider-Man breaks up with Felicia. Felicia then begins a "Robin Hood crusade," stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
Peter soon realizes something is amiss with his own luck and enlists the aid of Doctor Strange to remove the "hex" on him. By doing so, he alters the hex's source and changes the Black Cat's powers in the process. She finds she has heightened strength, agility, balance, vision, and retractable claws. While burglarizing the mercenary known as the Foreigner, Black Cat is attacked by Sabretooth, the Foreigner's hitman; Spider-Man saves her life.
The Black Cat updates her look and her attitude and rekindles her relationship with Spider-Man. She makes peace with his need for a normal life as Peter Parker and stands by him while he is accused of murder as Spider-Man. Together, they track down the source of the elaborate scheme to frame him and fight the Foreigner. Spider-Man comes home to discover Black Cat discussing her plans to ruin his life. He follows her to find she has never forgiven him for breaking up with her and in revenge became the Foreigner's lover. Her apartment is fire-bombed by the Foreigner's hitman Blaze, and she begins living with Peter Parker. During her ruse against Peter and despite her anger, Felicia begins to fall back onto her desire to love him. Spider-Man then discovers her association with the Foreigner. She clears Spider-Man of a murder charge. In the end, the Black Cat double-crosses the Foreigner and leaves for Paris to find a new life, which pushes Peter to find support and a new relationship with Mary Jane Watson.
Years later, the Black Cat returns to America, and goes "shopping" (actually shoplifting) with Dagger. She returns to her original costume, seeks out Peter Parker, and in a chance confrontation with Venom learns that Peter had married Mary Jane Watson. Angry and jealous, Felicia begins harassing the couple, taunting Peter as by dating his friend Flash Thompson. She physically threatens Mary Jane, confronting her and swearing to ruin their marriage. She saves a powerless Spider-Man from the Scorpion, but then all her powers are rendered inert by one of the Chameleon's devices. She realizes that she sincerely cares for Thompson, but when she proposes marriage he refuses her, saying that he was only interested in her because she was the ex-girlfriend of his idol, Spider-Man. The Black Cat later makes up with both Spider-Man and Mary Jane, becoming close friends with them. After Spider-Man uses a device to remove his superhuman abilities, the Black Cat aids him in finding the device again in order to restore them. In the process, the Black Cat's cat-like abilities are completely erased. She subsequently purchases equipment from the Tinkerer to incorporate into her costume in order to compensate for her lost abilities, and occasionally teams up with Spider-Man.
After Spider-Man unmasks himself, the Black Cat is enraged because she felt that they shared a bond over knowing his identity. Though she is dating Thomas Fireheart (a.k.a. Puma), her new sexual interest notes that Felicia may still have some romantic inclinations toward Peter.
The Black Cat joins the new Heroes for Hire during the Civil War although Misty Knight believes that Felicia is just there for the money.
Marvel Divas
Black Cat returns in the limited series, Marvel Divas (a parody of Sex and the City). She is one of the main characters, alongside Firestar, Hellcat, and Photon. The writers are Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic. Summoned by her friends to cope with Firestar's breast cancer, Felicia is financially broken: unable to restart her investigation firm, she's too proud to accept Puma's monetary assistance, and her attempts to get a loan are met with open hostility from the banks of New York, often targets of her villainous activities as the Black Cat. Thus, feeling rejected and angry, Felicia begins to consider returning to villainy.
Following Marvel Divas, Black Cat returns as a recurring character in The Amazing Spider-Man, following a storyline in #606-607 entitled "Back in Black Cat". Although she remembers her previous encounters with Spider-Man, the events of "One More Day" have erased her memory of his identity. Also, she has regained her "bad luck" powers.
Spider-Man ran into the Black Cat as she was breaking into the penthouse apartment of Dexter Bennett. Spider-Man caught up to her, reminding her that she was the one that dumped him. She and Puma had ended their relationship, so she and Spider-Man share a kiss, and later they slept together with the lights off, so Felicia could not see Peter's face. Following this encounter Peter and Felicia begin a sexual relationship. Peter later enlists the Black Cat's help in getting back his vial of blood from Mister Negative.
Following this, Black Cat received her own four issue mini-series, which was written by Jen Van Meter, drawn by Javier Pullido and covered by Amanda Conner. In the series, Felicia became caught up in the events of "The Gauntlet" and "Grim Hunt" storyline after her mother Lydia was kidnapped by the members of the Kravinoff family. Felicia agreed to turn herself over to the Kravinoffs in exchange for her mother's freedom, but instead sent a decoy while she tracked down her mother and attempted to free her herself. After removing the duct tape from her mother's mouth, Felicia discovered that the Kravinoffs had strapped an explosive device to her wrists in order to kill both of them. Felicia is ultimately able to rescue her mother and keep her safe from the clutches of the Kravinoff family.
Mary Jane enlisted the Black Cat's help after Spider-Man was captured by Doc Tramma, who turned out to be the one who restored Felicia's bad luck powers. Together they managed to defeat Tramma and save Spider-Man, and agreed to become friends afterwards. Black Cat is next seen in the "Big Time" storyline helping Spider-Man retrieve some experimental vibranium the new Hobgoblin stole for the Kingpin.
Spider-Island
Black Cat appears in the story arc of the spider island, fighting against the half-spider creatures, when the Heroes for Hire are called in to help with the quarantine of Manhattan.
Afterwards, Black Cat was blamed for the theft of a Holographic Projector from Horizon Labs. Since Spider-Man was with her at the time of the robbery he knew that she was innocent, and he recruited Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil) to help prove her innocence. It was later revealed that the criminal organization Black Spectre framed her to test her as part of their plot to recruit the Black Cat to their side and offer her a huge cash reward for retrieving a device that Matt Murdock has in his possession. Afterwards she goes to Matt's apartment and they start a relationship which is part of her plan. However she betrays Black Spectre and alerts Daredevil, leaving him a note saying the organization is monitoring his actions, before going into hiding.
Marvel NOW!
As part of the Marvel NOW! event, Felicia was later contacted by her friend, Misty Knight, in order to help the Fearless Defenders fight the so-called Doom Maidens along with other female heroines such as Storm, Tigra, Hellcat and Valkyrie.
Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Peter Parker's body) swings in his patrol heading for another date with his girlfriend Anna Maria Marconi only to bump into the Black Cat, who was committing a robbery. Felicia attempts to flirt, but suddenly Superior Spider-Man attacks her punching her straight into her face taking out a tooth in the process. Superior Spider-Man continues the assault reminiscing about how he once tried to kill her, but now he was just apprehending her as a criminal. This leaves Felicia totally shocked and angry while swearing revenge after Superior Spider-Man wraps her in webbing.
Following the conclusion of The Superior Spider-Man storyline returning the true Spider-Man, Black Cat later escapes at the beginning of the new Amazing Spider-Man series when Electro stages a breakout at the prison where she was being held. Determined to regain her standing by defeating Spider-Man, she attacks him while he is trying to evacuate a burning building, forcing Spider-Man to pretend to still be Doctor Octopus to drive her away as he cannot afford to lose time rescuing civilians. Felicia then makes contact with Electro, suggesting that they collaborate in seeking revenge on Spider-Man. Black Cat is in Parker Industries, making a record of all the tech they are currently producing. However she does not understand them, and opts to 'steal' someone who does. Sajani has had enough of Peter's constant disappearances and vows to make Peter see how he deals with everything without her help. Black Cat then pulls her away, commenting on her perfect timing. Black Cat and Electro later raid Eel's hideout where she has Electro defeat him. Black Cat and Electro later show up at a meeting between Mister Negative and Phil Urich (who is now leading the remnants of the Goblin Underground as the self-proclaimed Goblin King) where they throw Eel's body in between them. Black Cat states to Mister Negative and Phil Urich that she has heard about how they were outed by Spider-Man and wants in on their plan. During Peter's interview on the Fact Channel, Electro attacks the security team on the channel and Black Cat arrives announcing her demand that if Spider-Man does not show up in fifteen minutes, Peter will be dead. Electro complains about the plan but Black Cat stays determined that Spider-Man will show up, but then Silk arrives to confront the both, giving Peter the time to change into Spider-Man and jump into action, naming Silk. As she battles against Electro and Spider-Man deals with Black Cat, J. Jonah Jameson remains on the channel forcing the cameraman to film the action. Spider-Man tries to convince Black Cat to stop even while she does not believe his story of being mind-swapped. Black Cat deviate one of Electro's bolts hitting Spider-Man, knocking him down in the process. Black Cat attempts to unmask Spider-Man as Jameson aims the camera, Jameson's angle prevents anyone seeing Spider-Man's face long enough for Silk to knock Black Cat back and Spider-Man to put his mask back on. Although Electro accepts being depowered when his uncontrollable abilities prove dangerous even to himself, Black Cat continues her vendetta against Spider-Man regardless of who is behind the mask. Following Electro's depowerment, the criminals at the Bar with No Name want Black Cat to lead them.
The final issue of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man reveals that Boomerang's love interest was in fact Black Cat, who had disguised herself in order manipulate Boomerang and his Sinister Six into helping her acquire a priceless portrait of Doctor Doom without a mask. The character next appears as the villain of Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, where she is revealed to have used an associate's expertise in mind control to infiltrate New York's law enforcement and judicial systems, and create an army of "drones" out of the patients and staff of Brooklyn Psychiatric. When a hacker who had acquired a list of all active S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who Black Cat intends to brainwash as well, betrays her, Felicia hires Typhoid Mary to help her acquire the USB flash drive containing the list, opposed by Deadpool, Hawkeye, and Kate Bishop. When cornered by the trio and the authorities, Black Cat murders the mind control specialist, and escapes by switching places with her arresting officer, a sleeper agent.
In the Slide-Away Casino, Melter and Killer Shrike take Ringer to the back room where Black Cat is waiting. Black Cat shows him various items and tells him that even she cannot steal everything and sometimes must pay for them and asks him how is she supposed to do that when nobodies like him do not pay her weekly cut. Ringer tells her he did not pay because he was captured by Silk, owed the Spot for getting him out of jail, and had to pay the Tinkerer for new equipment. He also tells Black Cat they worked in some works before and remembers her having a heart and asks for compassion. Black Cat hesitates long enough for the Ringer to attack them, hitting her in her arm before she takes him down. Black Cat tells Ringer that he will make three times the cut and will also serve as an example by having Killer Shrike and Melter beat him up. Black Cat is surprised Ringer could tag her as she normally is more lucky. She wonder if it was luck to remind her of who she is now and tests her luck with one of the casino's machines and wins. Black Cat notices that lately the harder she listens to the part of her that tells her not to let anyone put her down, the more her luck gets off the charts. She remembers her life in the elite class before she lost it all. Melter and Killer Shriek bring in Ringer and Black Cat tells him to spread the word that no one steals from her. Two years ago, Felicia Hardy presents a painting in an elite party. In the present day at a museum, Regina Venderkamp, the woman who bought all the items confiscated from the Black Cat in an auction, presents the same painting that Felicia did. However, the lights go out for a moment and the painting is gone. An enraged Regina and her bodyguards go to her apartment only to find all of her treasures gone. She goes upstairs to see if she also took everything there, despite a bodyguard protesting since Black Cat could still be there. Black Cat then appears and says she couldn't leave without Regina learning that no one takes from Black Cat without paying. Regina orders her bodyguards to attack, but Black Cat quickly takes them out. She reflects that her bad luck powers seem to work better when she is ruthless and she may have been holding back before. Black Cat throws one of her claws to Regina's neck causing her to pass out. Hours later, Regina wakes up handcuffed to a chair at Black Cat's hideout. Black Cat contemplates almost all of the items that were confiscated and those she retrieved with only one missing. In J. Jonah Jameson Sr. and Aunt May's apartment, they contemplate the last item the only thing they got at the auction and go watch TV unaware that the Black Cat plans to steal it back. Following Spider-Man's fight with Ghost at Parker Industries, Black Cat places the statue with the rest of her things while having Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson Sr., and Regina Venderkamp tied up. Jay asks her why did she took them as she doesn't need money and they didn't do nothing to her. Felicia pours gasoline around her apartment and tells Jay he is wrong as they bought her things in the auction, a collection she spent years acquiring. She tells him that's the problem with possessions, they can break, you can lose them or they can be taken. And when that happens, everyone thinks they can take what's yours unless you prove them wrong. She says that nothing and no one will have that hold on him before setting the apartment on fire. When Spider-Man arrives, May warns him that the Black Cat is still in there and Peter asks Felicia for help. She tells him to save them if he wants as she made her point and the more people know the better. Parker tries to convince her that this isn't her but she tells him that the Felicia he knew is gone and she is done being who others want. She tells her that she controls her fate and anyone who stands before that will also be gone. Spider-Man manages to save Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson Sr., and Regina, who screams at him for not saving her things before May shushes her, telling her that people are what count, not things and Spider-Man knows that. In the Slide-A-Way Casino, Black Cat tells her men that they have seen what happens when they stay on her good side and what happens when they cross her. But from now on, there's nothing holding her back and no limit to what she will do.
All-New All-Different Marvel
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, Black Cat took in Silk as the latest member of her gang. Unbeknownst to Black Cat, Silk is secretly doing working undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Black Cat established a criminal empire which is disbanded by Gwenpool and Howard the Duck.
Black Cat formed an alliance with Hammerhead, his nephew, and his henchmen.
During the Civil War II storyline, Black Cat took in Kingpin's former minion Janus Jardeesh as the latest member of her gang. She was later informed about Janus undergoing Terrigenesis and arrived at the scene. During one of the heists by Black Cat's gang, Black Cat encountered the Avengers. She, Fancy Dan, and Janus Jardeesh evaded capture. Afterwards, Black Cat decided to lay low for a while.
Black Cat gained Scorpion as a part-time enforcer for her gang. She hired ex-Army Ranger Lee Price to accompany Scorpion to the black market sale where there was shootout with Tombstone's gang. When at Black Cat's hideout, Scorpion accuses Lee Price of botching up the black market sale which Lee Price denied leading Black Cat to demand an explanation after hearing about some information from her spies at the New York City Police Department telling her what they know.
During the Venom Inc. storyline, after Lee Price steals the spawn of the Venom symbiote from Flash Thompson's protege Andi Benton aka Mania and uses it to become Maniac, with his newfound ability to reproduce the symbiote and gain control of people, Price was able to gain control of Black Cat and her gang. With the aid of Flash's new powers as Anti-Venom, Black Cat was freed. Later working with Venom, Black Cat was able to use the artificial Anti-Venom element they got from Dr. Steven to free Spider-Man from Price's control. During the final battle, Black Cat discovers that those already cured cannot be taken over by Price's symbiote again, allowing Spider-Man to use his cured bloodstream and mix it with Anti-Venom to defeat Price. Afterwards she and Spider-Man make peace, and later Eddie Brock convinces Black Cat to give up being a crime boss and go back to being a vigilante.
Powers and abilities
Initially, the Black Cat had no superhuman abilities. Later, a test induced by the Kingpin gave her the psionic ability to affect probability fields; essentially, she could produce "bad luck" for her enemies. The "bad luck" power entails that under stress she is subconsciously able to cause anyone in her immediate vicinity that she perceives as a threat to be susceptible to freak accidents, like guns jamming and exploding, or tripping on objects. This ability also had the side effect of eventually causing problems for anyone spending long periods of time around her.
Doctor Strange eventually tampered with her powers that briefly removed her bad luck abilities, along with the unwanted side effect. However, this magical tampering temporarily endowed her with cat-like abilities, giving her night vision, retractable talons in her fingertips, superhuman speed, strength, agility and endurance, proportionate to a cat. Her "bad luck" powers were eventually restored by Doc Tramma through the use of cybernetics.
The Black Cat has reflexes, agility, and stamina of an Olympic level acrobat. She is physically very strong and athletic and has great physical endurance. She is an excellent street fighter capable of taking on several armed assailants and incapacitating them without being injured herself. She is trained in several martial arts styles. Hardy is a talented photographer; while dating Spider-Man she takes pictures of the hero that he admits are better than his own work.
The Black Cat has also acquired several devices from the Tinkerer that increase her agility and heighten her strength. She wears earrings that interact with the balance centers of her brain to grant her enhanced agility. She has contact lenses that let her see in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as infrared and ultraviolet. Her costume contains micro-servos that enhance her strength above normal human levels. The gloves of her costume contain steel micro-filaments, which form retractable claws at the fingertips when she flexes her fingers (triggering a magnetic surge which condenses the filaments into polarized talons) which enable her to tear through most surfaces and easily scale walls. Using this equipment, the Black Cat has been able to beat enemies who have superhuman abilities.
The Black Cat has a miniature grappling hook device hidden in the "fur" of each glove, designed by her father Walter Hardy, which enables her to swing from buildings in a manner similar to Spider-Man, though not quite as fast. She can also use the cable from this device as a tightrope, wall scaling device, swing line, or as a weapon in combat.
Reception
Black Cat was ranked as the 152nd greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine. She was ranked 24th on IGN's "Top 25 Spider-Man Villains" list, as well as 27th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
Other versions
House of M
In the House of M reality warp, Felicia Hardy appears as the Black Cat, having gained her powers through the Kingpin. She, alongside Elektra, Bullseye, Gladiator, and Typhoid Mary, are among the Kingpin's top assassins, however she is a double agent for Luke Cage's "Avengers" and feeds them information whenever she can. The Kingpin knows this and has Bullseye and Elektra beat her, while he throws her out a window. She survives and tells Luke that they have been set up, along with the Wolfpack and the Dragons. She stays with the group and is a more vocal member of Luke Cage's resistance. She takes part in the final battle at Genosha.
Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man
In issue #14 of vol 1 of this all-ages series, Spider-Man battles the Black Cat.
Marvel Mangaverse
In the Marvel Mangaverse continuity, Black Cat is cybernetically enhanced. She was originally a simple thief, who stole a cursed magical amulet for its monetary value, but this act attracted the attention of Matt Murdock, the Devil Hunter, and she was cut in half. The Kingpin of Crime reconstructed her body with cybernetics, including a shut-down mechanism he planned to activate if she failed to serve him. After completing her mission for the Kingpin, he claimed to have permanently deactivated the mechanism, but whether he kept his word or not remains to be seen. She is still Spider-Man's old flame, but in the New Mangaverse storyline (with Spider-Man having chosen Mary Jane Watson over her) she is trying to move on, and is now showing a romantic interest in Wolverine though by the end of the story arc it is clear that she has a hidden agenda as she is later seen with Nick Fury.
Marvel Zombies
A zombified Black Cat is briefly seen battling Iron Fist. He punches a hole straight through her.
However, somehow (in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days) during events set after her appearance above (which happened in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness), she appears alive and well, also uninfected on one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Carriers.
When asked about this during his Joe Friday 100, Joe Q explained that "the MZ world is not exactly like the regular Marvel Universe. Our Captain America is their “Colonel Americaâ€. Their Reed Richards is evil. A lot of the costumes are from different eras in our world. We assumed it was obvious from the context that in the MZ world, Felicia Hardy has a twin sister, Felicity Hardy, who is the costumed adventurer known as Night Cat."
MC2
In the alternate future comics known as MC2, Felicia Hardy married Flash Thompson and had two children, Felicity and Gene, before they divorced. In this continuity, she has apparently retired the identity of the Black Cat and runs a private detective agency. She has begun a romantic relationship with Diana, a woman she works with, a fact that has produced tension between herself and her daughter.
Howard the Human
Felecia is an anthropomorphic black cat in this reality from a Secret Wars Battleworld, where she is a crime boss and known as "The Cat Lady." She hired private investigator Howard the Human to find a spy within her organization, but someone was able to find him before Howard, and killed him. The Cat Lady then gave Howard twelve hours to find the assassin, otherwise she would kill him. Howard figured out that the informant was playing possum on orders from a simian version of Wilson Fisk who wanted to take his main rival, the Cat Lady, down. She confronts him and Adrian Toomes at a bar but they are both arrested as Howard planned. Howard kept the informant, Peter Possum, alive to get the reward money from the district attorney and to have Peter testify against Felecia.
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales
Issue #1 of Spider-Man: Fairy Tales follows the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Mary Jane plays the part of Little Red Riding Hood, and Peter is one of the woodsmen. Mary Jane owns a black cat named Felicia. #3, a Japanese ghost story, features a demoness resembling a humanoid black cat, with long white hair.
Marvel Noir
In Marvel Noir, Felicia Hardy is the owner of "The Black Cat", a speakeasy that caters to the most powerful and corrupt in New York City. In Spider-Man Noir: Eyes without a Face, she takes on a more prominent role, sheltering Peter after he is almost killed by Sandman, as well as dating Crime Master. Like most incarnations, Felicia has a relationship with Spider-Man Noir. Crime Master slashes her when he finds out about this, but before passing out, she alerts the FBI that he is in league with Otto Octavius and his inhumane experiments. The final panel of the series shows her with a mask similar to Madame Masque, angrily refusing to see Spider-Man since she blames him for her scars.
During the Spider-Verse storyline, she was assaulted by Kingpin and his men in hopes of extracting the identity of Spider-Man, but with nothing to lose anymore she retains her silence. She was then used as a hostage to lure Spider-Man in accepting Mysterio's challenge. After the battle, she would secretly grab the blood of Spider-Man which was extracted earlier to avoid it falling into Mysterio's hands.
She would later appear tending to an injured Spider-Man Noir (accompanied by Silk and Spider-Woman) while on the run from the Inheritors.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Felicia Hardy makes her appearance in issue #17 of the series. She is a teenager who transfers to the same high school attended by Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Felicia is considered "bad luck" due to her violent past and confrontational personality. She flirts with Flash and challenges his girlfriend, Liz Allan, to a fight, which was merely a ruse to establish her reputation as a girl not to be messed with.
Supernaturals
A different version of Felicia Hardy is part of a team led by Brother Voodoo. Unlike her 616 counterpart, this version of Black Cat possesses enchanted vocal abilities that allow her to alter the outcomes of events by speaking certain phrases aloud. (For example, at one point, saying "Break" causes a noose to snap.) This ability is shown to be useless once Jack O'Lantern tapes Felicia's mouth shut.
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Black Cat is Felicia Hardy, a young woman who blames her father’s death on Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Seeking revenge, she stole a priceless tablet that he was going to use on his comatose wife. Kingpin hired the assassin Elektra to retrieve it. When Black Cat threw it into the harbor, Elektra threw one of her sai into the Black Cat's chest, sending the thief over the edge. She was presumed dead, though no body was found.
She later returned during a gang war, stopping Hammerhead from shooting Spider-Man in the right temple. She later expressed interest in working for Hammerhead if it would mean getting rid of the Kingpin although Spider-Man opposed this. She later assisted Hammerhead and Elektra in a confrontation against Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist and Spider-Man.
Later, after the crisis was resolved, she passionately kissed Spider-Man through his mask, her previous interest in him having gotten stronger. She had apparently no idea of the age disparity between her and Peter, and mistakenly assumed, after he left in a rush, that he was a married man. When she managed to unmask him and realized how young he truly was, she was repulsed. The shock and embarrassment of such a discovery caused her to vomit on his costume. She is next seen trying to assassinate the Kingpin. However, Mysterio beats her to it. She then tries to steal the Zodiac Key from the Kingpin's vault. Mysterio, knowing that it contained great power, tried to steal it from her. Felicia tried to wish Mysterio to go away, but instead she accidentally caused the key to create a massive explosion. Shocked by what she did, she handed it over to Mysterio. Spider-Man came to the scene with Iron Man. Mysterio subdued Iron Man and then Spider-Man, Mysterio, and Felicia then fought over the key. Spider-Man won and then both he and Felicia decided to help the people who were caught in the middle of Felicia's mistake.
In this version, the Black Cat actually has short brunette hair, but wears a white-haired wig as part of her costume.
Spider-Gwen
On Earth-65, Felicia and her father are French and professional burglars. When her father stole Wilson Fisk's first dollar, Fisk sent Matt Murdock to kill him. Felicia went on to become a famous musician after singing in the streets and has a band called the Black Cats. She had a concert in New York with Mary Jane as the opening act to which she invited Murdock with the intention to kill him. While there, Murdock unleashes the Hand where she is defended by Spider-Woman. When she attempts to kill Matt, Spider-Woman knocks her out.
What If?
In the What If? storyline What if the Alien Costume had Possessed Spider-Man?, after the symbiote forms a permanent bond with Spider-Man due to Mister Fantastic being unable to examine the web-slinger until it is too late to break them apart, Felicia goes on a brief crime spree until she learns that the symbioteâ€"which here lives on adrenaline from superhumansâ€"has abandoned the now-deceased Spider-Man in favor of the Hulk; she favors killing the Hulk over the objections of the other heroes. After Spider-Man's funeral, she is contacted by the Kingpin, who helps her develop a weapon that will kill the symbiote in exchange for a lifetime of service from her; despite the heroes having already defeated the symbiote thanks to the actions of Thor and Black Bolt, with Doctor Strange being about to banish it, Felicia kills the symbiote anyway, subsequently berating the heroes for not knowing the price she had to pay to ensure that justice was done.
In another storyline, Spider-Man marries the Black Cat rather than Mary Jane - Alistair Smythe's attack having left Mary Jane injured in this reality, leaving Peter doubting his ability to look after her, with he and Felicia rekindling their romance while fighting supervillains together, but their relationship is complicated by such factors as Peter and Felicia being unable to live together in order to preserve his secret identity. After Felicia's carelessness results in Spider-Man's identity being discovered by an unidentified informant, combined with her own jealousy over Peter's continued friendship with Mary Jane, she is killed by Paladin after he mistakenly assumes she attempted to kill Mary Jane, resulting in Peter forming a romantic relationship with Silver Sable as the two bond over their shared grief at the loss of their loved ones.
In other media
Television
- Black Cat appeared in the 1980s Spider-Man cartoon series episode "Curiosity Killed the Spider-Man", voiced by Morgan Lofting.
- Felicia Hardy/Black Cat appeared in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Jennifer Hale. Her character was originally depicted as Peter Parker's first love interest before being eventually replaced in this role by Mary Jane Watson, but dates Michael Morbius instead. It is revealed her father the Cat was fooled into sneaking into an American lab during World War II, to memorize the super soldier formula that created Captain America and report back to the Red Skull. At the last moment, the Cat realized the deception and ran away to a life of crime. In the present, the Cat is in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison but is then broken out by the Kingpin. Doctor Octopus (working for the Kingpin) kidnaps Felicia as leverage and to be used as a guinea pig for an improved super soldier formula. The formula proves a success, making her overall physical prowess comparable to Spider-Man and also gives her the ability to switch between her normal blond haired form and her empowered well-muscled white haired form at will; she then recruited Spider-Man to assist in a rescue attempt for her father. After Kraven the Hunter was believed to be creating havoc in New York City, Black Cat helped make Spider-Man realize that Kraven was trying to help Dr. Crawford. She was also featured in a smaller story arc where she was again kidnapped this time by Alistair Smythe to be used as leverage to get Spider-Man to kidnap either the Scorpion or the Vulture. It was later revealed that Smythe had developed a machine reversed engineered from the Time Tablet and Vulture's talons and that data extracted from the genetic and molecular structure of Scorpion (both Vulture and Scorpion suffered heavy exposure to Vulture's earlier prototypes) was needed. The three components were used in conjunction in an attempt to swap age and abilities of the baby Silvermane and Spider-Man but a rescue attempt by Black Cat, Vulture, and the freed Scorpion destroyed the machine and returned Silvermane to his proper age. After Morbius awakens as a vampire, she struggles at figuring out how to stop Morbius because of her personal feelings. She then finds herself teaming up with Blade, Spider-Man, and Morbius to take down Blade's vampire mother who was using Dr. Connors's genetic recombinator to create an army of vampires. She then decides to leave Spider-Man to work for Blade along with Morbius, but not before she admits her love for the web-slinger. She does come back however to help Spider-Man defeat Hydro-Man and also appears at Peter's and Mary Jane's wedding. Black Cat allies herself with Spider-Man and Kingpin fighting droids created by Smythe that are crashing the wedding. After Blade, Morbius, and Black Cat nearly succeeded in capturing Blade's mother, Black Cat was brought into the Secret War due to an effort by Storm, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. She is initially angry and wants to return to Earth. She nearly fell into a river of lava, but Spider-Man saved her by webbing Black Cat's ankle. When Red Skull's stronghold is attacked, she goes after Red Skull while the others are distracted trying to destroy the Cyber-Skulls. However she is seized by Doctor Octopus, covering her mouth. The other heroes are unable to attack with her hostage, but she is freed, though the two villains escape. She is later seen fighting them with other heroes before Doctor Doom sends them back to Earth. After the Secret War was over she was sent back to the exact time and place she was taken from with no memory of the war. Despite her aristocratic background she flirts, kisses, or dates other characters in her age range. She does so more than once with Spider-Man while dating another person. It is alluded to that her promiscuous nature is rooted in her relationship with her father. With him having left her when she was young, she constantly tries to fill that void and if a man disappoints her, leaves, dies, etc.; she turns to Spider-Man because he tends to "always be there" unlike her father.
- Black Cat appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Tricia Helfer. Introduced in season one, she is depicted as simply a thief with no bad-luck probability abilities in "Persona" and her alter-ego is revealed in "Opening Night". In season two, she tries to break her father Walter Hardy out of prison. Black Cat frequently flirts with Spider-Man, kissing the web-slinger when he ask her because she helped him.
- Black Cat appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Grey DeLisle. This version is shown to have her bad luck abilities. Spider-Man first encounters Black Cat in the episode "A Day in the Life", in which she infiltrates Horizon High to steal the V-252 for an unknown client. Spider-Man had a hard time stopping Black Cat's heists due to her bad luck abilities. Eventually, Spider-Man managed to turn the tables on Black Cat's abilities where he ends up immobilizing her with his webs and handing her over to the police. In the episode "How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation", Black Cat steals the prize money for the beach's hot dog eating contest. After having some bad luck again trying to catch Black Cat, Spider-Man turned the tide by tricking Black Cat into giving herself bad luck by staring at her reflection which led to her getting buried in sand. While webbing up an immobilized Black Cat's eyes, Spider-Man leaves her for the police and returns the prize money just in time for Miles Morales to win the hot dog eating contest.
Film
- Black Cat appeared in early scripts for Spider-Man 2 in a subplot in which she tries to convince Spider-Man to give up being Peter Parker. This idea was to contrast the other subplot of Peter giving up being Spider-Man. Though she was deleted from later scripts, the Black Cat and her subplot are used in the video game based on the film.
- Felicia Hardy was originally supposed to appear in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat, as in the comics. Instead, Raimi's Felicia was expected to become a new super-powered figure called the Vulturess. In March 2013, Raimi stated that Anne Hathaway would have played Hardy if Spider-Man 4 had been made.
- Felicia Hardy appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, portrayed by Felicity Jones. Her character has a "special relationship" with the Osborns. In the film, Harry Osborn's first act after taking control of Oscorp was to promote her over Norman Osborn's former inner circle. Felicia was intended to become the Black Cat in future The Amazing Spider-Man films in the series.
- On March 22, 2017, it was reported that Sony Pictures was developing a Black Cat and Silver Sable-centered film with writer Christopher Yost. It is intended to be a part of a shared universe called Sony's Marvel Universe, centered on characters from the Spider-Man mythology, beginning with Venom in 2018. The films will be more adult-oriented and though they take place in the "same reality" as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they will not crossover with each other. In May 2017, it was announced that Gina Prince-Bythewood would direct the film now titled Silver & Black. Production was supposed to begin in March 2018, but has since been delayed "indefinitely". Prince-Bythewood said the cause of the delay was script issues. While the film was initially scheduled to be released on February 8, 2019, Sony removed the release date from the schedule. Production is now slated to begin in 2019.
Video games
- Black Cat made her video game debut as a playable character in the 1991 arcade game Spider-Man: The Video Game, a side-scrolling fighting game. Black Cat can scratch enemies, pounce on them with leaping kicks, or use her grappling hook like a whip to strike from a distance.
- Black Cat is a summon in the Super NES and Genesis game Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, where her attacks vary depending on whether the player is Spider-Man or Venom. She also appears in many of the pages from the Maximum Carnage comic book that were shown between levels.
- In the PlayStation, Dreamcast, PC, and Nintendo 64 Spider-Man video game, Black Cat appears in the first stage giving gaming tips every time the player walks into a question mark, and reappears later in the game. She is knocked out by the Rhino and kidnapped by Doctor Octopus and Carnage who have thugs pose as paramedics. Spider-Man eventually finds her and rescues her from the symbiote base. Jennifer Hale reprises her role from Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
- Black Cat appears in the Spider-Man 2 video game, voiced by Holly Fields. She is not a playable character. During the game, Black Cat appears as a thief who develops an interest in Spider-Man. Throughout certain levels of the game Spider-Man has to meet with Black Cat in certain places on top of buildings; once met, Black Cat will usually race Spider-Man to another region which she claims to be trouble. During cutscenes in the game, Black Cat will continuously persuade Spider-Man to 'ditch' his normal life as Peter Parker for a permanent life as Spider-Man. Black Cat makes her first appearance during a theft at an art museum. She later reveals her identity as Black Cat before diving off a building and vanishing into the city below. She later leads Spider-Man to Shocker's location where she helps defeat the foe. Black Cat makes her final appearance in the game after Spider-Man helps her defeat a fleet of armed mechas, after which he tells her the world needs both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. She departs, telling Spider-Man "once I cross your path, I'm not so easy to get rid of." Two of the hint markers found in and around the city of the game also reveal tidbits of information about her.
- Black Cat is a playable character in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by Audrey Wasilewski. Spider-Man encounters her outside of Doctor Octopus' secret lab in a Japanese industrial plant. During the game Black Cat's skills are best suited to the art of infiltration, but she is no pushover in a fight. Her grappling hook, usually employed to climb walls, is a quick and efficient weapon in her capable hands. After meeting Black Cat, she will assist Spider-Man throughout the chapter. During fights Black Cat wields her grappling hook and has two power moves called: Heaven's Claw and Tornado Claw.
- Black Cat appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, with Tricia Helfer reprising her role. Near the beginning of the game, she serves as the first boss having gone to work for the Kingpin, though after the fight she revealed in utter distress that it was a complex attempt to impress Spider-Man and comes on to him. If the player chooses the Red Suit path, Spider-Man rejects her advances stating that he both does not want her and cannot be with her as he leaves to go meet up with Moon Knight. If the player chooses the Black Suit path, Spider-Man accepts Black Cat's advances and stays the night with her. If the player choose her, she will also give Spider-Man missions to track down who was manufacturing weapons for Kingpin instead of Moon Knight. Sometime after helping Spider-Man, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Kingpin's forces clear a rooftop full of symbiotes, Black Cat becomes possessed by a symbiote and fights Spider-Man. After the fight, Black Cat is gravely injured, freeing her of the symbiote. The player is then given two choices again. If the player takes the Red Suit path, she is brought on to a S.H.I.E.L.D medivac uttering her last conscious words to Mary-Jane "He really does love you". If the player chooses the Black Suit path, Spider-Man reinfects her with his more powerful symbiote to heal her leaving her in more control of her symbiote. Doing this will cause Mary-Jane to leave in tears. In one Black Suit ending, Spider-Man rules with the symbiote-controlled Black Cat by his side telling Spider-Man that she had offered him the entire city.
- An exclusive 2099 incarnation of Black Cat appears in Spider-Man: Edge of Time, voiced by Katee Sackhoff. According to her in-game profile, Alchemax acquired the original Black Cat's DNA when she came to the company looking for a way to halt or reverse the aging process. But she escaped when she realised the extent of Alchemax's corruption, clones of the woman were created by Alchemax as a security force. One clone was given the Vanisher's powers, instilled with a powerful agoraphobia so that she would not be tempted to escape the building, upgraded with cybernetic weaponry, and has been seemingly force-fed anti-aging pills. After fighting and defeating the other Black Cat clones, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) fights the special clone. After being defeated, she implied that she still has feelings for her opponent. Later when Spider-Man 2099 sets off to confront Alchemax's CEO, Spider-Man 2099 has to fight the other Black Cat clones along other Alchemax guards.
- Black Cat is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Tara Strong.
- Black Cat is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
- Felicia Hardy serves as a villain in The Amazing Spider-Man video game, voiced by Ali Hillis. She is seen as a patient at Beloit Psychiatric Hospital until she escapes during the breakout. Felicia and her hired thugs, mercenaries, and urban commandos later invade St. Gabriel's Bank to rob it. She takes the bank director hostage in order to get into the vaults. When Spider-Man catches up to her in the vaults, she uses a subway car to escape into the subway. Upon catching up to Felicia in an underground parking lot, Spider-Man defeats her and hands her over to the police. In one of the photo missions, it is revealed Felicia escaped, gained cat like abilities, and has taken on her Black Cat persona. She even leaves a note with a paw mark and a kiss saying "You missed me Spider-Man."
- Black Cat is available as downloadable content for LittleBigPlanet, as part of "Marvel Costume Kit 6".
- Black Cat appears in Marvel Heroes.
- Black Cat appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Laura Bailey.
- Black Cat appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, voiced again by Ali Hillis. Felicia Hardy was sprung from Ravencroft by the Kingpin who has doctors do a cross-species experiment on Felicia, causing her to become Black Cat.
- A teenage version of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat appears as a sidekick character in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, voiced again by Tara Strong.
- Black Cat appears as a player character in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced again by Tara Strong.
- Black Cat appears as a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.
- Black Cat appeared as a playable character for a limited time during the Spider-Man Event in the mobile game Marvel Avengers Academy.
Live performance
- Black Cat will appear in the Marvel Universe: LIVE! stage show.
Novels
- Black Cat appears in the novel Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours, where she works with Spider-Man and the Rhino to battle the Ancients, three 'relatives' of Spider-Man's deceased foe Morlun. Felicia also reveals that she was one of the detectives hired by Ezekiel- an old man with similar spider-powers to Peter- when he sought to work out who Spider-Man was, Felicia tracking Spider-Man's out-of-country appearances.
- Black Cat appears in the novel Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk: Rampage by Danny Fingeroth and Eric Fein, the first book of the Doom's Day trilogy.
See also
References
External links
- Black Cat at the Marvel Universe wiki
- Black Cat (Ultimate) at the Marvel Universe wiki
- Black Cat's Profile at Spiderfan.org