Black Cat: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Felicia Hardy

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July, 1979)

Powers: Black Cat has the ability to alter the probability of events around her. More specifically, she can cause those around her to have a series of bad luck. In addition, she’s an expert burglar, can see in a multitude of different electromagnetic spectrums, is a superior gymnast and martial artist, and has a heightened level of agility, strength, and balance.

Affiliation: Heroes for Hire, A-Force, and Defenders.

Did You Know? Black Cat has been, on multiple occasions, the off-and-on love interest of Spider-Man.

A Little History

The origin of Black Cat is pretty straightforward. 

Black Cat was created by Dave Cockrum and Marc Wolfman. She first appeared inside the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #194 in July of 1979. 

Felicia was born into a life of crime. As the daughter of world-renown thief Walter Hardy, Felicia, from a very young age, was exposed to criminal activities. Walter taught her how to be both confident and to never take anything for granted. 

Sadly, her life unexpectedly ran off course while in college. It was during this time that her boyfriend, Ryan, assaulted her. Enraged by his crimes against her, she began training so that she may exact revenge. Unfortunately, before she could get her revenge, Ryan was killed in a drunk driving accident. Rather than let her training go to waste, Felicia decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a burglar.

As the Black Cat, Felicia amassed a fortune in stolen money and goods. Although this might’ve been enough for the average person, for Felicia it didn’t bring her the closure she was looking for. Instead, it caused her to want and do more. This mindset continually landed her face-to-face with Spider-Man. What’s interesting about the two as enemies is that Spider-Man and Felicia both share an attraction to one another. While engaging in their fair share of battles, the two have also stood side-by-side as a way to take down bigger threats. Even though she started as a villain, over time her various alliances with Spider-Man have caused her to become more of an anti-hero.

And that’s it. The origin of Black Cat.