Marvel Comics Appears To Be Introducing Race-Swapped Black Cat In Upcoming Issue Of ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’
In seemingly typical Marvel Comics form, it appears a race-swapped version of Black Cat will soon be making her debut within the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man.
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This apparent application of the ‘identity politics’ treatment to the fan-favorite cat burglar was first teased courtesy of artist Marco Checchetto’s cover for the series’ upcoming 11th issue, as revealed by Marvel Comics on August 10th.
Featuring the titular web-head chasing his feline foe across the New York skyline following an apparent diamond heist, the cover depicts a version of Felicia Hardy who rather than pale white skin and so-platinum-blonde-it-looks-snow-white hair, sports deeply tanned skin and a large head of curly hair.
“Guest artist David Messina returns as tensions rise between Spider-Man and Green Goblin in the wake of recent events!” reads the issue’s official And a new villain steps up to the plate! What is her connection to the Black Cat on Kingpin’s Sinister Six?”
To this end, as seen on Luciano Vecchio’s variant cover to the upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man #8 – at current the only good look readers have been given to his character – the Earth-6160 version of Black Cat’s father, Walter Hardy, is as pale-skinned as Wilson Fisk.
As such, should the Ultimate 2.0 continuity echo the mainstream Marvel Universe and depict Walter as Felicia’s biological father, it’s likely that the young woman will receive her darker complexion from her as-yet-to-be-revealed mother.
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In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that there does exist the distinct, if not miniscule possibility that rather than being race-swapped, Ultimate Felicia is instead a tanned, curly-haired white woman – possibly of Mediterranean origin.
As evidenced by his illustrations of the Greek assassin Elektra throughout the recent Daredevil Vol.5 and Vol. 6, it seems ‘bouncy and large’ is the standard style in which Checchetto draws curly hair.
Thus, it’s possible that rather than an afro, Ultimate Felicia’s hair is simply extremely curly – or even a wig, as was the case with the original Ultimate Black Cat’s white hair.
Should Earth-6160 Felicia turn out to be actually race-swapped, it would represent the second such time the sometimes-heroine was subjected to this change.
In 2015, Spider-Gwen Vol. 1 #5 introduced the version of Black Cat native to Earth-65, a pop-star-slash-thief who herself is very clearly a black woman.
Then, in 2023’s Edge of Spider-Verse Vol. 3 #3, Marvel unveiled Gata Negra, a Dominican native who served as the Black Cat of Earth-9375.
As of writing, neither Marvel Comics, Checchetto, nor Ultimate Spider-Man writer Jonathan Hickman have publicly commented on the identity of Earth-6160’s Black Cat.
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