Spotlight on Black Cat

With all the rumblings about Black Cat joining the Spider-Man 4 lineup, I figured it was time for the "felicitous felonious feline" femme fatale to get the spotlight. Felicia Hardy first appeared in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #194 in 1979.

Just a couple of years later, she made her on screen debut on the cleverly titled 1981 Spider-Man series episode, "Curiosity Killed the Spider-Man." Judging by the image above, I think this series nailed the look of the character better than any of the subsequent attempts.

Black Cat returned in the 1990's Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Like many of the characters in the series, her look was close, but somehow off. I guess this can be somewhat explained by the fact that in this version the character had super powers granted by a variation of Captain America's super soldier serum.

In 2003, the MTV Spider-Man: The New Animated Series introduced a character named Talon. The script originally was written to include Black Cat, but with the casting of rapper Eve, the character was reimagined as a variation of the burglar.

2008's Spectacular Spider-Man series reintroduced the Black Cat to television with an interesting twist. In this continuity, the Black Cat's dad who was the petty thief that killed Uncle Ben (a much better idea that retconning Sandman into that role). Although at first friendly with one another, Spider-Man's refusal to let the cat spring her pop from prison introduced a rift between the two sometimes partners.

So, will the cat be out of the bag in 2011's Spider-Man 4? Sounds likely. Stay tuned.

Has Spidey's Black Cat Marked Her Territory?

Rumors are swirling that casting for the Black Cat is underway for a lead role in Spider-Man 4. Since production on the film is ramping up, this rings a bit truer than far fetched stories last year touting Cher as the pick to play Catwoman in the next Batman movie. I guess I am fine with this as long as love triangles are kept under control.


One interesting side effect of this news is the possible impact it may have on DC's Batman franchise. It was never a sure thing that Catwoman would appear though it has been suspected, and it seems that fans would like it. But it seems unlikely that a pair of black clad cat-themed anti-heroines would appear in back-to-back comic franchises. In this showdown, Spider-Man may have beaten the Bat to the punch, though technically Catwoman has already appeared in Batman feature films (Batman'66 and Batman Returns) not even counting the Halle Berry abomination.

And just to set the record straight, although Catwoman predated Black Cat by nearly 40 years, the current version of Black Cat has been around much longer than the similar incarnation of Catwoman.