Spider-Man vs Black Cat Gives the Classic Villain a TOTAL Reboot

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ultimate Spider-Man #1-8

The Ultimate incarnation of Spider-Man is set to come face to face with a classic cat-burgling villain: Black Cat. However, this version of the Black Cat isn’t the on-again-off-again love interest that Earth-616 Peter Parker is familiar with. While still a mastermind thief, this version of the Black Cat is certainly gruffer than readers are used to.

Marvel Comics’ preview forUltimate Spider-Man #9 – written by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Marco Checchetto –reveals that while Spider-Man and his new allies, Harry Osborn and Otto Octavius, work to unravel the threads of Wilson Fisk’s criminal underground, Fisk has been building his own task force: the latest incarnation of the Sinister Six.

Comprised of Fisk, Mr. Negative, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Mole Man, and Black Cat, the Ultimate Sinister Six completely control New York City. While readers have yet to see the villains in action, the preview provides a brief glimpse of the debonair Black Cat in action.

Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man Offers A Radically Different Take On BLACK CAT

Ultimate Spider-Man #9 – Written by Jonathan Hickman; Art by Marco Checchetto, Matt Wilson, & Corey Petit

Fans of Earth-616’s Black Cat know Felicia Hardy to be a mastermind criminal and a morally ambiguous anti-hero who followed in the footsteps of her father, Walter Hardy. However, in the Ultimate Universe, Felicia is still young, while her father remains the one and only Black Cat. Although, Walter Hardy’s Black Cat has already made his fortune; this time, he’s in it for the fun. Like his daughter’s version of the alter-ego, Walter is a relatively un-serious gentleman who simply enjoys the spectacle of Fisk’s superpowered menagerie of criminals.

Similar to that of the Gentleman Thief Arsène Lupin, albeit without the Robin Hood-esque sense of nobility, Walter Hardy carries himself with a sense of masculine class. Nearly never seen without his mask, what part of his face he does expose is usually dressed with a charming, toothy, grin. Walter, much like his daughter, carries himself confidently and has the proven skills to be highly respected in his field. However, among a group of ruthless killers, superpowered criminals, and egotistical megalomaniacs, Black Cat does feel somewhat out of place as a member of the Sinister Six.

Ultimate Black Cat Will Have A Very Different Dynamic With Peter Parker

A Father-To-Father Connection

As Peter Parker continues to get a grip on his new powers and, more importantly, continues to learn the cost of having them, it looks like Black Cat will be a seemingly easy villain for Parker to take on himself – though their dynamic could be more surprising than that.The Ultimate version of Spider-Man is a father, something that could serve as the basis for Peter and Walter Hardy to find common ground in the future. While this version of Black Cat’s dynamic with Spider-Man will be very different, it could still parallel the original in certain ways.