Black Cat's Heel Turn

[Mauled]

Best explanation that fits with earlier depictions of the character is that she's got mental health issues.

Character explanations don't really work though. It's just bad writing from somone (Slott) who doesn't like the character.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I never like that comics use mental health issues as a shorthand for a villains motivations. It stigmatizes actual mental illnesses.

[LOSTie-chan]

I really hope she's possessed or being mind-controlled cuz her behavior lately makes zero sense.

But if she is being possessed/mind-controlled I wonder who the culprit might be and why.

Crack theory/Soap Opera plot twist: Maybe it's Black Cat's long-lost evil twin sister White Cat? Dun dun dun!!

[Londo Bellian]

Thing is, while Slott got the ball rolling in turning Black Cat to Evil!Cat, her current villain status is now being enforced with an adamantium fist by Spider editor Lowe, who keeps on harping about how he wants to really push Felicia into breaking more and MOST bad, and exceeding all known and unknown, possible amd IMPOSSIBLE limits of evilness to Chaotic Evil alignment territory. And that includes prolly talking Silk writer Thompson into showcasing Evil!Cat's CHAOTIC!EVILNESS by having her become The Corrupter as well, turning one of Marvel's hit newest heroines Cindy into a supervillain.

Even her motivations are shot to absolute zero now, retaking everything she lost after incarceration just to burn them all. And the atmosphere that Lowe is making her a feature villain OUTSIDE the Spider books as well. I'm willing to bet that the first big event for ANAD is NOT the Mutant-Inhuman "War", but "Evil!Cat Destroys the ANAD Marvel Universe" maybe to retcon her past into no longer being a human named Felicia Hardy but a living avatar of CHAOS and EVIL.

And this is one of the reasons I am not wholly won over by ANAD. Fix this in the first "season", Marvel. Or forever inherit an enemy!

[Darthfury78]

Thing is, while Slott got the ball rolling in turning Black Cat to Evil!Cat, her current villain status is now being enforced with an adamantium fist by Spider editor Lowe, who keeps on harping about how he wants to really push Felicia into breaking more and MOST bad, and exceeding all known and unknown, possible amd IMPOSSIBLE limits of evilness to Chaotic Evil alignment territory. And that includes prolly talking Silk writer Thompson into showcasing Evil!Cat's CHAOTIC!EVILNESS by having her become The Corrupter as well, turning one of Marvel's hit newest heroines Cindy into a supervillain.

Even her motivations are shot to absolute zero now, retaking everything she lost after incarceration just to burn them all. And the atmosphere that Lowe is making her a feature villain OUTSIDE the Spider books as well. I'm willing to bet that the first big event for ANAD is NOT the Mutant-Inhuman "War", but "Evil!Cat Destroys the ANAD Marvel Universe" maybe to retcon her past into no longer being a human named Felicia Hardy but a living avatar of CHAOS and EVIL.

And this is one of the reasons I am not wholly won over by ANAD. Fix this in the first "season", Marvel. Or forever inherit an enemy!

Let Tigra take care of Felicia and Silk. Afterall, Tigra was Spider-Man's first crime fighting partner when she was The Cat. Black Cat might have gotten her inspiration from Tigra. Otherwise, had Gerry Conway had placed The Cat into Spider-Man's world, Greer would have been Peter's first costumed love interest.

[Mister Mets]

I never like that comics use mental health issues as a shorthand for a villains motivations. It stigmatizes actual mental illnesses.

I can appreciate that. There's the statistic that people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of assault than to assault someone.

On the other hand, the combination of a skewed view of the world and disproportionate responses does happen in real life, and can be interesting in a work of fiction.

[Probalus]

Going back to some of her earliest appearances, Felicia has always been a bit mentally/emotionally unstable, so her heel turn is not such a shock to me. I do think she will eventually come back around since Spidey's female supporting cast is on life support these days and Black Cat is one of his best supporting characters.
Good question about Silver Sable; how long will she remain "dead?"

Spidey's got a tremendous female support cast. What he doesn't have is a compelling female villain, and Black Cat's meant to take that role. It does toss away decades of established characterization but it's also quick and effective. People don't have to like or agree with villains' motives after all.

[Darthfury78]

Spidey's got a tremendous female support cast. What he doesn't have is a compelling female villain, and Black Cat's meant to take that role. It does toss away decades of established characterization but it's also quick and effective. People don't have to like or agree with villains' motives after all.

Why can't Marvel just import a female villain that in limbo like Madam Viper. Black Cat role as a villain has no support in my opinion. Deathstrike or Mystique would make for a more compelling Spider-Villain than The Black Cat. Even Titania and Man-Killer would take on that role, as well as Dr. Minerva.

Also, most of Spider-Man's tremendous female support cast are boring. Bring in Jennifer Walters, Greer Grant, Jessica Drew, and The Black Widow and that could make things interesting.

[boots]

Why can't Marvel just import a female villain that in limbo like Madam Viper. Black Cat role as a villain has no support in my opinion. Deathstrike or Mystique would make for a more compelling Spider-Villain than The Black Cat. Even Titania and Man-Killer would take on that role, as well as Dr. Minerva.

Also, most of Spider-Man's tremendous female support cast are boring. Bring in Jennifer Walters, Greer Grant, Jessica Drew, and The Black Widow and that could make things interesting.

probably because heroic fiction seems to love it when the villain is your friend/ex/twin/sibling/ancestor/descendent.

it's a tired trope but one that people still seem to respond to. current day marvel universe is pretty much built on it.

[Darthfury78]

probably because heroic fiction seems to love it when the villain is your friend/ex/twin/sibling/ancestor/descendent.

it's a tired trope but one that people still seem to respond to. current day marvel universe is pretty much built on it.

The female villains mentioned can be tied to Peter's friend/ex/twin/sibling/ancestor/descendent. A good example is Sabretooth who had nothing to do with Wolverine initially until he was placed in the X-Verse by Chris Claremont. The same goes for Mystique who was a Carol Danvers villain until she got placed into the X-Verse. The same can apply to Peter Parker's world as well, like The Abomination and Nimrod...

[boots]

The female villains mentioned can be tied to Peter's friend/ex/twin/sibling/ancestor/descendent. A good example is Sabretooth who had nothing to do with Wolverine initially until he was placed in the X-Verse by Chris Claremont. The same goes for Mystique who was a Carol Danvers villain until she got placed into the X-Verse. The same can apply to Peter Parker's world as well, like The Abomination and Nimrod...

calm down there darth, i'm not actually saying that would be a good thing...

[The_Greatest_Username]

I can appreciate that. There's the statistic that people with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of assault than to assault someone.

On the other hand, the combination of a skewed view of the world and disproportionate responses does happen in real life, and can be interesting in a work of fiction.

I do agree that it can be interesting. That is at least partially why villains like the Joker are so popular. I just think that it's unfortunate that mental illness is given as the reason for a villains motives in comics.

Spidey's got a tremendous female support cast. What he doesn't have is a compelling female villain, and Black Cat's meant to take that role. It does toss away decades of established characterization but it's also quick and effective. People don't have to like or agree with villains' motives after all.

So lazy writing should trump logical story telling?
If they needed a villainess for Spider-Man, why not use one of his existing ones or build Silk into that role?

[boots]

I do agree that it can be interesting. That is at least partially why villains like the Joker are so popular. I just think that it's unfortunate that mental illness is given as the reason for a villains motives in comics.

absolutely, but it's a hang over from superhero tropes started in 40s when such issues were less understood or tolerated. it's somewhat ingrained in the mythos now and i agree that i'd love to see a move away from it and maybe more heroes dealing with their own illnesses in a positive light.

So lazy writing should trump logical story telling?
If they needed a villainess for Spider-Man, why not use one of his existing ones or build Silk into that role?

the answer is no, of course. but that's also painting the development in stark terms.

[Celgress]

I strongly suspect Black Cat was forcibly turned heel in the comics so Peter can remain long term love interest free.

[Kurolegacy]

That's just the problem. If Slott wants her to be bad, he should've given it some build up. Instead, all we get is SpOck 'Chris Browning' her and leaving her for the cops. Her already public identity is apparently re-revealed to the public which causes her to go crazy over the loss of her street-cred? The story doesn't make any sense because it ignores anything that's ever been done with the character. She might as well be a different character.

Not only that but what street cred? I mean ffs she was a member of the Defenders and Heroes for Hire. What the hell does she care what the criminal underworld thinks of her? Hell you'd think the reason they wanted nothing to do with her initially would be the fact that she had been on the side of the heroes for so long and possibly helped put them away at some point or another. How the hell did something so mind numbingly stupid not only pass editorial but spread like cancer across the other books?