Warning: Full spoilers follow for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the fabric of his reality from collapsing: He allows a spell to be cast which erases him from everyone’s memory. Where there was once a supporting cast, there is now a blank slate. MJ and Ned Leeds don’t remember Peter Parker, Peter has to settle for a GED instead of a Midtown High diploma, and worst of all, he’s lost his anchor after the Green Goblin murdered Aunt May.
The film ends with Peter settling into a modest apartment, and later leaping out a window to fight some crime and spin some webs, all dressed in a new, seemingly comics-accurate Spider-Man suit. Many Spider-Man films end with the hero swinging through Manhattan, but this moment takes on special poignance in No Way Home. Due to the film’s events, the only thing Peter has left in his life is Spider-Man.
This isn’t the end, though. A fourth Spider-Man film starring Tom Holland has already been confirmed. We probably haven’t seen the last of MJ or Ned either, though it’ll likely take a while before they re-enter Peter’s life. Fortunately, there’s an answer to this new supporting cast void, and it’s also a way to challenge Peter while in his current state of life: The next Spider-Man film should introduce Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat.
Black Cat’s in Love With the Spider, But Not the Man
Spider-Man has had many love interests over the course of his publication history, but three stand head and shoulders above the rest: Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, and finally the Black Cat. The first two have gotten plenty of spotlight on film, but the same can’t be said for Cat. She was twice cut from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, first with script edits on Spider-Man 2 and then with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4. Felicia Hardy cameoed in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, played by Felicity Jones, but only as an Oscorp employee with no hints of her Black Cat persona.
The reason why now is precisely the right time to introduce Black Cat on the big screen is because her interest has always been in Spider-Man, not Peter Parker. The two met in their costumed identities after all, when Black Cat was introduced by Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard as Spider-Man’s latest rogue in The Amazing Spider-Man #194. Black Cat’s face turn was motivated less by conscience and more by a wish to get closer to the mysterious masked man she fancied. Peter, then on an off period with Mary Jane, was happy to let her in.
When Peter pulled back his mask and revealed his true self to Felicia, she recoiled. She was only in love with the superhero, who for her was “the night and excitement and death-defying adventure!” For Felicia, the Black Cat is her truest self and she wants to be together with a Spider-Man who feels the same way about his masked identity. Her apathy towards the Peter Parker identity is what doomed their relationship.
And it’s this character dynamic that would make Black Cat the perfect foil to Holland’s Spider-Man in his fourth solo film. At times, such as in the Spider-Man 2 video game, Felicia has tried to convince Peter to leave behind civilian life and be the spider of her dreams full-time. Peter always resists her offers, but with nothing to currently ground him to Peter Parker, he might not be able to fight off the temptation this time.
Felicia could also provide a new spin on some old tropes in the Spider-Man movies. In most of them, from the Raimi-verse to the MCU, Peter has a personal connection to his adversaries before they come to blows. Him having a romantic relationship with a foe, or any other costumed character for that matter, has never been done on film before. As No Way Home proved, Peter, no matter the universe, always thinks he can save everyone. He’ll of course try to redeem Felicia, but she might not be too eager to play along; even in the comics, she’s never quite managed to stave off her criminal tendencies.
Putting the Neighborhood in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Black Cat’s introduction would also help bring Holland’s Spider-Man back down to earth. Cat is a street-level Marvel character – true to her name, she is a cat burglar – and adding her to the mix could reorient Spider-Man away from apocalyptic, Avengers-level threats. Instead, Peter could finally be the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man he vowed he was going to be at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
An overall smaller scale is needed after Spider-Man’s last movie adventure. No Way Home went as big as a Spider-Man movie could, drawing on two decades worth of movies along the way. Trying to outdo that is a fool’s errand. Instead, the fourth Spider-Man film can take advantage of its fresh start to create a new status quo and rebuild Peter’s character; the only way to do that is with more intimate and character-focused stories.
Even better, Black Cat has the potential to bring more Marvel characters along with her. Many iterations of Black Cat have had enmity with the Kingpin. In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Wilson Fisk was the one who turned Felicia Hardy into the Black Cat with a recreation of the super-soldier serum. In Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider and Cat first met while she was stealing from the Kingpin. Fisk just returned to the MCU in Hawkeye, and fans have been clamoring for Holland’s Spider-Man to meet Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin for years.
Alternatively, in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, Black Cat’s introduction coincided with an adaptation of the Alien Costume Saga. No Way Home’s post-credits scene ended with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock being sent back to his home dimension, but not before leaving behind a drop of the Venom symbiote. As with most Marvel stingers, this is clearly telegraphing stories to come. Could Peter’s darker impulses, amplified by the black suit Venom symbiote, be further pushed to the edge by the Cat’s own criminal ways?
No Way Home was a terrific celebration of Spider-Man films up to this point, but you can’t keep looking backwards forever. Holland’s Spider-Man is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and it’s time for his Peter to face challenges he hasn’t before. Black Cat is just the foil he needs.
