The upcoming Spider-Noir TV series is finally introducing a character Sam Raimi never got to use in the movies. However much viewers may wish otherwise, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 was never going to become a reality. The film was officially cancelled back in 2010, and he has no intention of returning to make a fourth Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire. “After my three movies, I handed the torch off to someone else,” Raimi recently observed. “And I think they’ve got to keep running with the storyline and the audience that is now following the torchbearer.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
Spider-Man 4 may be dead, but the franchise as a whole is more important than ever before. This year will see the return of Tom Holland’s MCU Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, likely essential setup for the impending Avengers: Doomsday. But there’ll also be the exciting Spider-Noir series, a TV show starring Nic Cage as the noir version of Spider-Man. We recently learned this will feature the live-action return of a character we’ve been longing to see for 16 years, since rumors first swirled that they were in Spider-Man 4.
We’re About to Meet a Live-Action Black Cat For the First Time
Sony has recently confirmed several major villains for Spider-Noir, with a first look at several members of the cast. Strikingly, this includes Li Jun Li (Sinners, Alma and the Wolf, Bablylon) as a character named “Cat Hardy.” There’s only one character this can possibly be based on; Felicia Hardy, a classic Spider-Man antihero known as the Black Cat. In the comics, Felicia Hardy is traditionally a love interest / rival for Spider-Man, sometimes serving as a villain in her role as a sneak thief, more often as something of an antihero.
Cat Hardy is clearly wearing the kind of clothing you’d expect from a nightclub performer in the 1930s, and that in itself is significant. In the comics, the Spider-Man Noir version of Felicia Hardy is the owner of the Black Cat nightclub and lover of the Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich; she secretly worked with Urich, collecting information that would help him expose the city’s various crime lords. Felicia was forced to watch as her lover was killed, and launched herself on a mission of vengeance.
This version of Felicia Hardy became a trusted ally of Spider-Man rather than an enemy, secretly infatuated with him even though she realized their lives were too different. Strikingly, she also helped him against various versions of iconic characters already confirmed to be in Spider-Noir, including the Sandman. It’s not hard to see which particular comic book stories the upcoming TV series is drawing on, and the renamed Cat Hardy is a perfect fit for this tale.
We’ve Been Waiting For Black Cat Since 2010
There have long been reports that Black Cat was destined to appear in Raimi’s original Spider-Man 4 film, with Anne Hathaway describing her Black Cat audition ahead of her performance as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. “I did not get into costume and did not read a script past the audition sides,” Hathaway observed. “I got the part and, yeah, it just… I think that’s probably more the producers’ story to tell than mine should they ever decide to tell it.” For his part, Raimi has noted that he loved her portrayal of Felicia Hardy in her Spider-Man 4 auditions.
That said, the story of Spider-Man 4 has gotten a little more complicated of late, with Raimi apparently contradicting himself by debunking rumors Black Cat was in the film. “We never had auditions for a female villain that I’m aware of,” he insisted, rejecting the popular Spider-Man 4 theory. “I talked to John Malkovic about playing the Vulture, and he was wonderful and we got along great, but the movie never went.” It’s possible the explanation lies in Raimi’s precise wording, in that Black Cat may have been an ally of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man rather than an enemy.
Whatever the case may be, audiences have been waiting for Black Cat since those rumors first began to circulate all the way back in 2010. Spider-Noir is finally giving us a version of Black Cat, albeit one who is unlikely to bear much resemblance to the traditional version. Even better, she’s played by one of the biggest stars in Hollywood right now, testimony to the star power behind this upcoming Spider-Man TV show.
Are you planning to watch Spider-Noir? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of MAPPA -
Image courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios -
Image courtesy of Tor Books/Macmillan
