In Black Cat, Felicia Hardy made a deal with a strange Marvel god that doomed her greatest mentor for a very good reason.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Cat #7 by Jed MacKay, Michael Dowling, Brian Reber & Ferran Delgado, on sale now.
Black Cat has been consistently put through the wringer lately. On top of playing a vital role in the King in Black event, Felicia Hardy has also been enacting heist after heist with the guidance of her long-time mentor, the Black Fox. After reaching their goal, the pair were ready to perform the ultimate heist on the New York Thieves Guild. The only problem, Black Fox was not entirely honest with Felicia over their target. Now, it’s her responsibility to fix her mentor’s recklessness.
Black Cat and her crew had been all over New York collecting artifacts that would allow them to break into the Thieves Guild’s vault. After stealing from Doctor Strange, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four and others, Black Fox felt they were ready to enter the vault. Unfortunately for Felicia, Fox never really planned on entering the vault. Their ritual instead brought forth the Gilded Saint, the god-entity that oversaw the vaults. The Black Fox then made a deal with the Saint, the deed to Manhattan that they stole from Doctor Strange in exchange for eternal life for Black Cat and Black Fox.
And in Black Cat #7, Felicia Hardy betrays her mentor to save New York from the dark god’s wrath.
Black Cat had not been made aware of this arrangement prior to the deal’s completion. This led her to reach out to her rival, Odessa Drake, in order to revoke the deal. Drake sent Felicia into the vaults in order to confront the Saint. While in the vaults, Felicia made her own deal with the Saint that saw her give up her own immortality. She was able to place an explosive onto the deed of Manhattan before leaving. The explosion triggered as Black Cat confronted her mentor at Coney Island. This caused the Saint to believe that the Fox had betrayed him. He then traveled to Coney Island as he had lost his claim on Manhattan. He decided to take Black Fox back into the vaults. Cat and Fox part ways by stating that they love each other.
Felicia and the Black Fox have a fairly extensive history. After Felicia’s father was reported dead, she began to follow in his footsteps. This led to her getting arrested for attempting to rob a jewelry store. Her stint in jail did not last long as she was broken out by her father’s mentor, the Black Fox. He took her under his wing, teaching her everything she could know. Once the time came, Felicia went on her own and started her own fabled career.
This led to them being reunited in 2019’s Black Cat series, a story that would transfer over to the current run. Black Fox had rejoined Felicia with the goal of robbing the New York Thieves Guild. He took a similar role with Felicia’s crew to the one he had with Felicia and Odessa Drake’s fathers. He directed them towards artifacts that they needed to gain access to the vaults.
The pair cared deeply for each other as can be seen by their parting words of love when the Gilded Saint took the Black Fox. This is identical to the time when Black Cat left from under her mentor’s wing. It was here that Felicia decided on the name Black Cat, and the two shared words of pride and love for one another.
Ironically, what is Black Cat’s most seemingly ruthless act is actually her most selfless. Felicia frequently stole things from important people to make money or suit her own needs. This issue saw her take the opposite approach. She had to give up the person who meant the world to her in order to save the citizens of Manhattan. While she clearly could not live with the guilt of condemning those people, time will show how she handles the guilt of sentencing her mentor to a cruel — if not entirely undeserved — punishment.
Black Cat has been called a villain many times over, especially since recent years saw her becoming a minor crimelord. Felicia does not view herself this way, and her most recent actions genuinely back this up. Though she may be a thief, she played a vital role in stopping Knull, and she just saved Manhattan from eternal damnation in the vaults of the New York Thieves Guild. Without her mentor to lead her astray, Felicia may finally be able to embrace her inner hero in ways she rarely has in the past.
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