Most people that have been or are still comic book fans know pretty well who Felicia Hardy is, but justifying a solo movie for her might take a bit of convincing since she’s basically the Catwoman of Marvel. Her origin is a bit different as she was hooked up with a man that saved her from being raped only to eventually demand that their relationship be taken to the physical level. After being raped she was about to take her revenge when the man that did the deed was killed. After that Felicia gained a deep hatred of men as she didn’t want to think of herself as a victim and couldn’t bring herself to trust a lot of people. But when she met Spider-Man things changed quite a bit as she sensed a kinship of sorts with him that she couldn’t fully explain. The thing about Black Cat, the identity she would take on as she followed in her father’s footsteps of being a cat burglar, is that she was almost designed to be a criminal and despite a few moments throughout her history when she’s been seen to ally with the wallcrawler, she’s made it a habit of being bad.
The idea of a solo movie seems to be aimed at the current era as a means of introducing another female protagonist that isn’t about to admit that she needs help from a man, has suffered trauma at some point in her life, and has somehow learned how to trust people again. Of course Felicia’s history with Spider-Man is pretty spotty since the two of them have been an on-again, off-again type of thing that isn’t helped by the fact that she doesn’t want to be a hero and isn’t bound to become one, ever. She’s said as much in the history she’s had in the comics and isn’t bound to change her mind anytime soon it would seem. Felicia has had powers granted to her by the Kingpin that have been stripped and she’s helped Spider-Man on more than one occasion, but kind of like Catwoman she just likes being the villain and can’t help herself. In a big way she might be the character, or at least one of them, that the current audiences need to cheer for since she’s fiercely independent and isn’t about to take anything from anyone if she can help it. Jamie Frevel of Marvel has more to say about Black Cat if you’re interested.
Bringing her to the big screen doesn’t seem like the best way to introduce her at first, especially in a solo movie. However, if Disney+ was to make an original movie or perhaps a series it does seem as though people might be interested and could possibly find an interest in the character that would develop into something that might translate better to the big screen at one point. At this time it would seem that Disney is finally realizing that going all out to introduce as many characters as possible from the Marvel universe is great, but it can also backfire in a big way. Too much too soon could lead to fatigue on the part of the audience and considering how much money Marvel has been making for Disney at this point it doesn’t seem wise to push it too far too fast. Instead it might be better to bring a new series to Disney+ and she how Felicia is accepted by the audience so as to gauge whether or not she’ll be able to take on her own story and possibly interest people enough to keep watching. A few names leap to mind as to who could play the character, such as Emma Roberts, Amber Heard, Emma Watson, and several others that would be able to rock the bodysuit and provide the kind of attitude that would be needed for a character such as this. Felicia Hardy is after all anything but a pushover and would need someone that has a serious and very forceful personality that could stand up to just about anyone, since she’s rubbed shoulders with some of the worst villains and come away relatively unscathed.
Whether or not Spider-Man would be made to show up would be all on Disney since the two have a long history and it might seem kind of odd to leave him out of it entirely. He wouldn’t have to be present at every moment as she has her own history and her own story, but given that he’s been a part of it for so long it might be wise to have him pop in from time to time. The villains though would be plentiful since as a criminal she’s had a very active life in the comics, and that could translate very well to a series, and if successful enough it could be taken to the big screen. Christopher Fiduccia of ScreenRant has more to say on this matter.
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