Amidst rumors swirling around the future of Tom Holland’s webhead in Spider-Man 5, Marvel is reinventing one of his classic foes in more ways than one. With the introduction of Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Marvel Studios gave audiences a taste of what’s in store for the MCU after Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom is defeated in Avengers: Secret Wars and ushers in the Mutant Saga.
In addition to the likely strategy of including X-Men characters in upcoming movies, the MCU has even given non-mutant characters an active X-Gene, such as Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel.
Now, the same could be happening to one Spider-Man character, as Marvel Comics has teased the possibility of Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, becoming a mutant and joining the X-Men, according to a new cover and solicitation for the December issue of Black Cat.
On the cover, it appears that Felicia Hardy is even wearing her own X-Men costume, the same thing that happened to Ms. Marvel as soon as she became a mutant. The most striking change in Felicia’s design is that she’s no longer a platinum blonde, but a brunette.
Also, aside from some familiar motifs from her original costume, such as her choker and white faux fur lining her collar and legs, it couldn’t be a more drastic departure from Black Cat’s typical design, almost looking like a knock-off of one of Kitty Pryde’s costumes. Instead, she’s sporting a black-and-blue uniform covered in tacky Xs, with her hair held back by a headband.
Black Cat’s redesign arrives in the midst of a flurry of rumors around Spider-Man’s next adventure in the MCU. The character has been a popular request to be added to Peter Parker’s supporting cast, with hopes skyrocketing even higher following rumors that movement is being made on the fifth Spider-Man movie.
According to rumblings, Marvel Studios is looking to cast Miles Morales in the next movie, which has led to fans hoping that Felicia Hardy could also have a starring role in Spider-Man 5. Given that a version of Black Cat appeared in Spider-Noir, it is clear that adapting the character into live-action is not off the table.
And now that Marvel Comics is putting Felicia into the spotlight again through such a significant change to her character, perhaps this is laying the groundwork for Marvel Studios to put their own unique spin on the character when she finally makes her MCU debut.
As for the possibility that Felicia Hardy will actually be turned into a mutant, fans can put their fears to rest knowing that G. Willow Wilson’s Black Cat is primarily a comedy book. Felicia’s antics include, but are not limited to: being sued by a vampire, helping MJ steal a bad audition tape from the Negative Zone, and being hunted down by the Punisher for running over his dog.
The solicitation for Black Cat #16 also mentioned that “Emma Frost has a job only Felicia Hardy can pull off,” which could involve the cat burglar disguising herself as a new mutant. Wilson herself has mentioned on Bluesky that Emma Frost fans should “…get ready for some Emma Frost three-dimensional chess.”
It’s practically guaranteed that Black Cat won’t be turned into a mutant and that it’s all a ploy for some grander scheme cooked up by Emma Frost. Another possibility is that it’ll be satirizing how Ms. Marvel was turned into a mutant.
It would also explain why Felicia (and the artist) put so little effort into her costume since it won’t be sticking around for long, although it’s admittedly not nearly her worst look in the comics.
Evolution of Black Cat’s Costume
Black Cat’s Debut Costume
Felicia Hardy debuted in writer Marv Wolfman’s The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #194 in 1979, with her original costume illustrated by Keith Pollard. A look so instantly iconic that it’s stuck around for decades with minimal changes. Despite how many times Marvel Comics tried giving her a new costume, she’d always return to this classic look.
An all-black, skintight suit, with stark white faux-fur tufts lining her plunging collar, the cuffs of her gloves, and the trims of her thigh-high boots. All of it brought together with equally white hair. The only aspects of her outfit that typically changed were her accessories, such as the type of choker she wears and the shape of her domino mask.
Gold-Plated Cat
Felicia’s next costume happens to be her worst, making its horrid debut in writer Peter David’s The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #117 in 1986. Designed by artists Rich Buckler and Dwayne Turner, Felicia had to make do with creating a new costume after a fight with Sabertooth cut her last one to ribbons.
After stealing gold from an assassin called The Foreigner, she melted it down to make the tacky golden shoulder pads adorning her new blue jacket, purely out of spite. She also abandoned her faux fur, tying her wild hair in a ponytail instead. Combined with the white attire, it resulted in a haphazard look, one that thankfully didn’t last more than 11 issues.
The Blue Cat
Black Cat shows up wearing an entirely new costume in The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #128 in 1987, designed by Alan Kupperberg. A drastically different look, abandoning her domino mask for one with long, fin-like “ears” that resemble Wolverine. Felicia didn’t bring her faux fur back either, accessorizing herself with a golden belt and bracelets. Although the inconsistent coloring can make it seem blue, it’s meant to be the same shade of black as her original costume.
Felicia wore this costume when she briefly partnered with The Foreigner to get back at Spider-Man, but she was only using the assassin for her own ends, helping her on-again, off-again lover from being framed for murder. As soon as the villain was stopped, Felicia went into hiding, leaving this costume behind.
Black Cat (90s Edition)
For years, Felicia would simply return to her classic costume, but when the 90s hit, her outfit became a lot more risqué in David Michelinie’s The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #371 in 1992, when artist Mark Bagley cranked up her sex appeal. Black Cat made a scene showing off her new costume, which had a plunging neckline that dipped past her navel.
She also sported far more exaggerated faux fur that dangled from her arms and legs, but not her neckline. On top of that, with help from The Tinkerer, she had her gloves kitted out with extendable claws to defend herself. This costume would eventually become one of her mainstays, with elements of its design later carried over into future iterations.
Stealth Suit
Making its brief appearance in Mark Miller’s Marvel Knights Spider-Man (2004) #10 in 2005, designed by Terry Dodson, Black Cat wore this outfit while helping Spider-Man break Norman Osborn out of jail to stop him from killing Aunt May. Made for stealth, Felicia turned all her faux fur black and covered up her cleavage, though keeping her hair stark white defeated its intended purpose.
Most curiously, her heels were replaced with padded footwear, perhaps to obscure the sound of her footsteps. Regardless, this was another suit used only in this story, but its design would influence others years later.
Crime Boss Suit
When Otto Octavius temporarily switched bodies with Peter Parker, becoming the Superior Spider-Man, he had a run-in with Felicia Hardy. While she attempted to have some fun banter, Otto punched her in the face, knocking out a tooth and getting her arrested, revealing her identity as Black Cat to the public. Felicia then swore vengeance on Spider-Man, and with a power vacuum left in Wilson Fisk’s absence, taking his place was easy.
After escaping prison, Black Cat began consolidating power, debuting in her new costume in Dan Slott’s The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #3 in 2014, designed by Humberto Ramos. Like her stealth suit, her fur was black, and her suit lacked any cleavage, replaced by a cat pendant and two yellow patterns on her shoulders flanking it, resembling cat eyes. She also had a loose metal belt that could serve as a deadly whip to keep her men and enemies in line.
Iron Cat
Felicia Hardy eventually came to her senses and returned to her usual antics. In Jed Mackay’s Black Cat (2019) #11 in 2020, Felicia got into a war with the Thieves Guild, requiring some extra firepower. So, she broke into Stark Industries and used its fabricator to make her own set of armor. Shining black and white, topped with cute cat ears and pink claws, Felicia had a flying, agile tank.
Funny enough, Felicia never physically wore this suit, designed by artist C.F. Villa, and instead used a trick from Tony Stark’s playbook in Iron Man 3 by piloting it remotely to fool everyone. The honor of actually wearing it would go to Tamara Blake, Felicia’s ex-girlfriend, in Jed Mackay’s Iron Cat (2022) #1.
However, in issue #3, Felicia finally put on another suit designed by artist Pere Perez to fight her ex, with a paint job that more closely resembled Iron Man. But like many of her previous gimmick suits, this armor didn’t last beyond this story.
Honorable Mentions
Ultimate Black Cat (Earth-1610)
Debuting in Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #50 in December 2003, with artist Mark Bagley making his mark again by introducing Black Cat with an even more sexualized design to make the teenage Peter Parker as awkward as possible. Mimicking much of her original costume, this Black Cat’s costume does have new orange-tinted goggles and her boots lined with golden claws.
Of course, as comics fans know, this relationship between the two famously met a hilarious end in issue #85, when Felicia Hardy realized that the superhero she had been flirting with was a boy who barely hit puberty. She was so disgusted with herself that she threw up on his crotch and ran away into the night, never to be seen again in the comic until issue #152, when Peter Parker’s tenure as Spider-Man was nearly at an end.
Insomniac’s Black Cat
Felicia Hardy appeared in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man in a side quest involving collectibles, before appearing in The Heist DLC as she manipulates Peter into helping her. Holding no hard feelings, Black Cat made another brief appearance in the sequel, when Spider-Man helped her escape to Paris so she wouldn’t become Kraven’s prey.
Black Cat’s costume in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man was designed by Lead Character Artist Dustin Brown at Insomniac Games. A more militarized look than some fans would prefer, with lines and padding all over the suit, with no faux fur in sight. A rather boring design that leans heavily into MCU design philosophy.
The sequel improved the design, however briefly it appeared, thanks to Senior Character Artist Constance Huang. Tuffs of fur appear on Black Cat’s arms and boots again, while also making both the fur and her hair more stark white instead of a dull silver.
Ultimate Black Cat (Earth-6160)
Three years ago, Marvel Comics relaunched the Ultimate Universe, which reimagined many of its characters, including Felicia Hardy. Not only did it emphasize that Black Cat was a mantle, having only recently inherited the title from her injured father, but also that this Hardy was black and far younger than Peter Parker, too, being the love interest of his son instead.
Technically speaking, she made her debut in Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #8 before making her proper costumed appearance on the cover and interior of issue #11 by artist Marco Checchetto and David Messina, respectively. Compared to other costumes on this list, it’s rather plain, with no faux fur, simple black gloves without any claws, and one wrist-mounted grappling hook on one arm. Her hair even retains a natural shade, obscuring her domino mask.
Mutant Black Cat
The X-Virus threatens to mutate all of mankind in DNX, the upcoming five-issue comic event from Marvel Comics. In the future, a gene bomb will be detonated in the United States, releasing the virus and forcibly rewriting the human genome to turn normal humans into mutants, but not many will survive the experience.
One of those survivors was Felicia Hardy, who turned into a cat lady, tail and ears included. In an alternate future spin-off comic, Mr. Sinister assembled an elite strike force of mutants in writer David Marquez’s Sinister’s Six in 2025, in which Black Cat is a member. Her design by Rafael Loureiro has her completely covered in white fur while wearing Sinister-themed armor, several of his familiar diamonds adorning it.
Marvel Rivals’ Black Cat
On April 17, Marvel Rivals released Black Cat as part of the Season 7.5 mid-season update “The Hunt Is On” as a high-mobility Duelist hero. Her default design took heavy inspiration from her original look in the comics, not veering too far like some other designs in Marvel Rivals.
The most apparent new additions were purple accents throughout her costume and a decorative silver belt. Additionally, while she retained the faux fur on her arms and legs, the tufts along her neckline have migrated up to her shoulders, making it look almost like she has a lion’s mane.
