Originally conceived as a foil for Spider-Woman, Black Cat has become a staple of Spider-Man comic books instead. Felicia Hardy began her comic book stories as a thief. She enjoyed the thrill of the heist, but she also enjoyed making her father, who was a master thief, proud. Some might still think of her as a villain, but Black Cat has played a lot of different sides in her day.
Despite often being an antagonist, Felicia stepped away from life as a villain repeatedly to help do the right thing. In addition to partnering with Spider-Man, she’s also been a member of Heroes for Hire, the Fearless Defenders, and more. As a result of her frequent switching of sides, however, some heroes respect her choices, while others would rather they never see her again.
Respect: Colleen Wing
The Colleen Wing of Netflix’s Iron Fist isn’t especially trusting, though she wants to be. The opposite is true of the comic book version of the character. She wants to shut people out but tends to be trusting.
When Colleen and her best friend Misty Knight found themselves in the middle of Marvel Comics’ Civil War, they created a new group of Heroes For Hire. On their team were some people who weren’t always heroes. In fact, Black Cat was in it for the paycheck. Colleen didn’t hold that against Felicia, however, and valued the skills and perspective she brought to the team.
Despise: Invisible Woman
Sue Storm and Felicia Hardy probably won’t meet on the big screen any time soon since both of their next movie appearances are in limbo, but the leading lady of the Fantastic Four probably wouldn’t mind.
The Invisible Woman and the Black Cat haven’t crossed paths often in the comics, but when they have, Sue makes it very clear she has no interest in Felicia being near her or her family. In fact, when Sue came home to find her brother Johnny fighting off an enemy with Black Cat’s help, she wouldn’t even give Felicia the time of day, just kicked her out of her house. Of course, Felicia was actually there to steal a book, but neither Sue nor Johnny knew that.
Respect: Silk
Like Black Cat, Silk frequently appears in Spider-Man related stories. Cindy Moon was even bitten by the same spider as Peter Parker, though their paths in life were very different. In her recent solo series, Silk was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to infiltrate Black Cat’s gang of thieves.
Cindy did her job very well until Felicia overheard her new protege talking with her S.H.I.E.L.D. contact. Despite Black Cat’s anger with her, Silk didn’t want to capture her for the organization. She tried to reason with her and proved that she did respect Black Cat for her skills and goals. Unfortunately, the two were just on opposite sides of the law.
Despise: Misty Knight
The relationship between Misty Knight and Felicia Hardy is an interesting one. Misty, after all, has been the detective responsible for arresting Felicia on more than one occasion, and she never wants to give the latter a break for information.
Misty, however, also brought Felicia on board her Heroes for Hire team as the Black Cat. Unlike her investigative partner Colleen, however, Misty never trusted Felicia. She purposely kept information from her on just about every job they took, constantly reminding the rest of the team that Felicia was only interested in money. It makes fans wonder why Misty even chose Felicia for her team in the first place.
Respect: Daredevil
Black Cat has stolen a lot of valuable merchandise during her time in comics. There have been a few times where she didn’t steal anything but found herself blamed for theft anyway. One of those times had Spider-Man and Daredevil on her trail.
She managed to convince the two that she was framed and simply wanted to clear her name, leading to her and Daredevil working together. Daredevil was impressed with her skills and allowed her to take the lead while they tried to uncover the culprit. They even almost had a fling but it didn’t go much farther than her getting a kiss out of him.
Respect: Wolverine
If there’s anyone on this list who understands other heroes looking down on you because of your past, it’s Wolverine. He hasn’t had a ton of interactions with Black Cat, but they did have a team-up in a limited series that took them to the Savage Land.
Logan wasn’t scandalized by Felicia making advances at him, and he wasn’t put off by the implication that it was a one-time thing. The two worked incredibly well together as they both trusted one another’s skills and allowed the other to lead when necessary. There was mutual respect between the two that they don’t have with a lot of the other heroes they team up with.
Despise: Superior Spider-Man
There was a brief time in Marvel Comics when Peter Parker wasn’t Spider-Man. Instead, his body was used by the former villain Doc Ock. Felicia didn’t know that when she met up with him, leading to an awkward confrontation that revealed Doc Ock thought of her as the kind of villain worthy of elimination.
During his time as Superior Spider-Man, the “hero” decided to do his absolute best to clean up the streets, and that involved punching Black Cat on sight and knocking one of her teeth out. Felicia had no warning and had to work quickly to figure out why her recent ally was out to get her.
Respect: Captain Marvel
Monica Rambeau is Spectrum these days, but back when she was using the Captain Marvel moniker, Marvel released a limited series that acted as the superhero version of Sex And The City. Monica, Hellcat, Black Cat, and Firestar starred in the series as a group of friends who met while trying speed dating.
Though the story centered on the group helping Firestar through her cancer diagnosis, the two heroes that spent the most time together were Monica and Felicia. They bonded over their bad taste in men and always playing second fiddle to bigger heroes. That’s one friendship that it would be nice to see more of.
Despise: Mockingbird
Mockingbird is a character with a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. history, which is probably why she was chosen to be Silk’s S.H.I.E.L.D. contact. She’s the character that features heavily in Silk’s solo title when the young hero goes undercover in Black Cat’s organization.
Mockingbird is the one who convinces Silk to do the job because, in her eyes, Black Cat will never be anything more than a criminal, no matter how many times Felicia Hardy decides to do the right thing. She says as much and orders Silk to get the job done, promising to get Cindy information on the family members she’s been missing. It’s a callous move on the part of Bobbi Morse, but perhaps her need to take Felicia down stemmed from her own history of a romantic connection with Spider-Man.
Respect: Spider-Man
With the bulk of Black Cat’s comic book tales happening in Spider-Man’s stories, it would be impossible not to see where he landed on this list. Spider-Man, at least the Peter Parker version of the costumed hero, has always had respect for Black Cat, even when the two were enemies.
Peter never treats Felicia as a criminal, always willing to hear her side of a story and discuss her latest caper with her. He believes that, despite her enjoyment of heists, she is a hero at heart. Peter is part of the reason Felicia has decided to be one of the good guys so many times.
