Spider-Man‘s new appearance brings along multiple characters from Marvel Comics, including a version of Black Cat, and the project serves as the start of a new era for the character. Black Cat is one of the Spider-Man-related characters from the comics that has been done dirty by the many Spider-Man movies released thus far. After all, she barely has a presence in them.

The biggest role Felicia Hardy got in live-action was a cameo from actress Felicity Jones as an underdeveloped take on Black Cat in Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That aside, fans of the character have not had much from her outside the comics and the Marvel’s Spider-Man video game. Given Black Cat’s role in the source material, that had to change.

Felicia is one of Peter Parker’s best love interests, and she is quite fun as the cat burglar to the straight-laced vigilante. Seeing that dynamic in live-action could rival some of the best couples in Spider-Man projects, such as Garfield’s Peter and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, and, more recently, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Zendaya’s MJ. Thankfully, the times have changed.

Spider-Noir, the new live-action Spider-Man series that just premiered on Prime Video, debuts an exciting version of Black Cat. Called Cat Hardy, a clear play with both sides of the character, Felicia Hardy and Black Cat, she is played by Li Jun Li in the standalone Spider-Man series. While the show’s Black Cat is different, modeled after the story’s unique noir concept, she breaks new ground for the anti-hero.

Spider-Noir’s Version Of Black Cat Is Full Of Firsts For The Marvel Character

Finally, 12 years after Felicia Hardy’s cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a Marvel series sees Black Cat get the major role she deserves in live-action Spider-Man stories. Cat Hardy might not wear a super suit in Spider-Noir, nor go by the Black Cat name as a cat burglar, but she is absolutely integral to the mystery at hand. Cat’s actions directly impact the story, with the character playing others to get what she wants and having an emotional reason to do so. She is the signature femme fatale of noir stories, a role that suits Black Cat quite well.

Aside from finally playing a key role in a live-action Spider-Man release, this new era for Black Cat was officially declared by seeing the character have a close relationship with Nicolas Cage’s Ben Reilly. This is the first time that a live-action Spider-Man adaptation has had a version of Spider-Man and Black Cat as a couple or romantically involved. It might have happened with alternate universe variants of the characters, but the dynamic between Ben and Cat had that same magnetic push and pull that Spider-Man and Black Cat are known for on the pages of Marvel Comics.

What The Future Could Hold For Black Cat In Live-Action Marvel Projects

At the end of Spider-Noir season 1, Ben clearly resents Cat for playing him, going as far as revealing his secret identity in order to save the man she loved, Flint Marko, aka the Sandman. While she tries to flirt with him one last time, Ben is unfazed, and with Cat Hardy having killed Silvermane and Flint no longer having powers, their story seems to have met a perfect ending. They can just go off into the sunset together, so, even though Spider-Noir did right by Black Cat, she might not return in an eventual second season.

That said, Black Cat remains a Marvel character with so much live-action potential, and it is high time we saw a traditional version of the anti-hero, with the black suit and white hair, on the big screen. Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s street-level story, and the fact that Peter is being more Spider-Man than himself, would be perfect to bring Black Cat into the fold. If she is not in the MCU movie, then Felicia Hardy is such a major character that keeping her completely absent for what could be a new Spider-Man trilogy is hard to imagine.

Release Date

May 27, 2026

Network

MGM+

Showrunner

Oren Uziel, Steve Lightfoot

Directors

Harry Bradbeer

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  Lamorne Morris

  Robbie Robertson