Black Cat (Marvel Comics)
Black Cat is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 in July 1979 as an adversary of the superhero Spider-Man, although she later becomes his on-off love interest and ally.
In the Marvel Universe, Black Cat is the alter ego of Felicia Sara Hardy, the daughter of renowned cat burglar Walter Hardy. Trained in martial arts and acrobatics, she follows in her father's footsteps and initially comes into conflict with Spider-Man until the two fall in love, leading to a brief partnership in crime-fighting. Their relationship is complicated when it becomes apparent that Black Cat has no interest in Spider-Man's civilian identity as Peter Parker. Despite their break-up, Spider-Man's positive influence motivates Black Cat to remain an antiheroine willing to do the right thing when push comes to shove, and routinely returns to the hero's life as one of his most trusted allies. Black Cat has gained and lost superhuman powers several times throughout her comic book history, most notably possessing a "bad luck" aura capable of inflicting people in her vicinity with misfortune.
Since her original introduction in comics, the character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including solo series, video games, animated television series, and merchandise.
Publication history
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. 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".Black Cat's first comic book appearance was drawn by Amazing Spider-Man's regular penciller Keith Pollard. For her first couple decades the Black Cat was primarily a supporting character, but she starred in the 8-page story "The Crown Jewel Caper" in Marvel Comics Presents #57, written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and pencilled by Mike Harris. According to Zimmerman, the story did not appear in the issue it was originally scheduled for, and when he asked why it had not been published yet, Marvel Comics Presents'
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, 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 Spider-Man in Spider-Man/Black Cat and Spider-Man: Black Cat, and with 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. The Black Cat ongoing series written by Jed Mackay debuted in June 2019, a relaunch following in 2020, as well as the team-up series Iron Cat, Mary Jane & Black Cat, and Jackpot & Black Cat. A new Black Cat series, written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Gleb Melnikov, was announced in May 2025 to begin publication in August 2025.
Fictional character biography
Felicia Hardy was born in Queens, New York. Her father Walter Hardy 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.She first dons the Black Cat costume 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. Her apartment is fire-bombed by the Foreigner's hitman Blaze, and she begins living with Peter Parker. Peter later discovers their relationship is just a ruse against him, and that she had secretly been in a relationship with The Foreigner. However, despite her anger during her ruse, Felicia begins to fall back onto her desire to love Peter. Spider-Man comes home to discover Black Cat discussing her plans to ruin his life by framing him for murder, during a telephone-conversation with The Foreigner. Before he can catch her, she escapes. Spider-Man tracks her down to the Foreigner's apartment by attempting to trick Lt. Keating into revealing evidence as Peter Parker. Peter then intercepts a phone-call on Keating's phone, which turns out to be Felicia, telling Keating to meet her. However this is a part of her plan, as she intentionally lured Spider-Man into finding her at the Foreigner's apartment, causing a fight to ensue between The Foreigner and Spider-Man. Later she clears Spider-Man of his murder charge. In the end, the Black Cat double-crosses the Foreigner and Spider-Man, detailing her plan and her feelings towards Peter in a letter, also explaining that she has fled to Paris to start a new life. This pushes Peter to find support and a new relationship with Mary Jane Watson.
Years later, the Black Cat returns to America, and goes "shopping" 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 by dating his friend Flash Thompson. She physically threatens Mary Jane, confronting her and swearing to ruin their marriage. After Spider-Man uses a device to remove his superhuman abilities, the Black Cat aids him in finding the device again to restore them. In the process, the Black Cat's cat-like abilities are completely erased. 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, but is implied that Flash actually cared for her. The Black Cat later makes up with both Spider-Man and Mary Jane, becoming close friends with them. She subsequently purchases equipment from the Tinkerer to incorporate into her costume to compensate for her lost abilities, and occasionally teams up with Spider-Man.
After Spider-Man unmasks himself, Black Cat is enraged because she felt that they shared a bond over knowing his identity. Though she is dating Thomas Fireheart, her new romantic 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", though Misty Knight believes that she is just there for the money.