Amazing Spider-man 17 :spoilers:

[Darthfury78]

Characters are not meant to be segregated, true. But when Spidey already has such a deep cast with so many of them being underutilized, why bring in characters from other franchises? Just use the ones he already has. And I don't think anyone will disagree that Black Cat has been underutilized and basically had no direction for her character since the early 90s. The current direction might not be something fans want or like, but at least something is being done with her.

Most of Spider-Man's rogues have not been seen in the book in decades. I think that it's fair to say that some of them would be better off in other books or create a team with some of them and send them off else where. Also, Slott originally wanted to use the Black Cat in End of the Earth storyline instead of Silver Sable because she was being used in Daredevil's world. And if Matt Fraction's The Defenders continued, Felicia would have been a part of the team. It's too bad that the Black Cat wasn't tied down to Daredevil's world a bit longer.

If the Black Cat was used in EoE, Slott would have killed her off.

[Agent Z]

Characters are not meant to be segregated, true. But when Spidey already has such a deep cast with so many of them being underutilized, why bring in characters from other franchises? Just use the ones he already has. And I don't think anyone will disagree that Black Cat has been underutilized and basically had no direction for her character since the early 90s. The current direction might not be something fans want or like, but at least something is being done with her.

I think some people would prefer characters in limbo than have them used poorly.

[Probalus]

I think some people would prefer characters in limbo than have them used poorly.

Like I said in the post you quoted, it's not something fans want. But not my point. Point is, they seem intent on establishing her as a villain, and guess what, if they continue, then it's possible not many fan will mind ten, fifteen years down the road when she's firmly established herself. Or if Darthfury is correct and this isn't really Felicia in her right mind, then there's nothing wrong with how they are writing her anyway, since the mischaracterization would be intentional.

[AJpyro]

Like I said in the post you quoted, it's not something fans want. But not my point. Point is, they seem intent on establishing her as a villain, and guess what, if they continue, then it's possible not many fan will mind ten, fifteen years down the road when she's firmly established herself. Or if Darthfury is correct and this isn't really Felicia in her right mind, then there's nothing wrong with how they are writing her anyway, since the mischaracterization would be intentional.

Do you think people would've been more receptive to Felicia's Heel-turn after SW and the possible reboot?

[Tuck]

Maybe less resistant.

Some will just want her to be the way she was. Others want character consistency, but probably still have a preference.

They should have really put her on a bus post-OMD.

I can feel the soft retcon happening in the new issue though. (Still don't like it.)

[Probalus]

Do you think people would've been more receptive to Felicia's Heel-turn after SW and the possible reboot?

My conspiracy theory is, if SW really is a reboot, Marvel is doing all of these radical changes before SW (ie female Thor, Sam Cap) to soften the negative fan reaction after SW reboots the universe. So nope.

[Tuck]

Isn't Thor selling really well?

[Probalus]

Isn't Thor selling really well?

Yup. But would it sell as well had Marvel wait to reboot the universe and all of a sudden lol Thor is a girl? IMO no.

[Mutant God]

Nope, mustache-twirler Black Cat is still godawful.

Don't you mean whisker-twirling, lol.

[Kurolegacy]

^^^^

Not even the type of godawful that you're thinking "i wonder what she's gonna do next"

the type of goddawful thats like "get her out of this book already. i want to put this down"

Agreed. It's basically the thing that has you rolling your eyes at just how melodramatic she is. Right now she's basically been reduced to being so shallow that if you stepped in a puddle of her, you wouldn't even get your feet wet. And what makes it worse is that Slott is trying to further drive it home that its a good thing she's evil since the more vicious she is, the stronger her powers are. God I wish the stories would lead to her being depowered by Parker Industries but thats definitely not where it's going.

[Prof. Warren]

If that was the case, it failed badly. There were other female villains who would have been a rational choice like Madam Viper or Lady Deathstrike. Heck, even Madelyne Pryor might have been awesome to see as a Spider-Man villain. Also, we already had the Spider-Queen as a major villain.

I'm digging what Slott's doing with Felicia. Using another female villain without a close connection to Spidey just wouldn't have worked. The Black Cat's been in a rut for decades. This turn towards outright villainy is the most interesting thing anyone's done with Felicia in ages, maybe ever. Finally, she isn't just Peter's sometime lover (a romantic relationship that was never going to go anywhere) but an actual danger with the potential to become one of the A-players in Spidey's rogues gallery.

[Darthfury78]

I'm digging what Slott's doing with Felicia. Using another female villain without a close connection to Spidey just wouldn't have worked. The Black Cat's been in a rut for decades. This turn towards outright villainy is the most interesting thing anyone's done with Felicia in ages, maybe ever. Finally, she isn't just Peter's sometime lover (a romantic relationship that was never going to go anywhere) but an actual danger with the potential to become one of the A-players in Spidey's rogues gallery.

She was being used in Daredevil and the Defenders respectively. But again, a lot of people were digging what Slott's did with Superior Spider-Man. Guess what, Marvel decided it was time to bring back Peter Parker. And once the Kingpin returns, Felicia's bad luck powers will be removed. Then what she's going to do afterwards?

No one ever answered whatever happened to her Private Investigation/Bounty Hunting business. I find that to be the biggest missing link of all time....

[Prof. Warren]

She was being used in Daredevil and the Defenders respectively. But again, a lot of people were didding what Slott's did with Superior Spider-Man. Guess what, Marvel decided it was time to bring back Peter Parker. And once the Kingpin returns, Felicia's bad luck powers will be removed. Then what she's going to do afterwards?

You're assuming they'll be removed. But who knows? Whether they do or don't, whatever happens will be told in due time.

[Darthfury78]

You're assuming they'll be removed. But who knows? Whether they do or don't, whatever happens will be told in due time.

Felicia's powers were returned to her by organized crime. As it was with her first bad luck powers which it ended badly for her, I suspect that her new bad luck powers are no different. Sure Felicia's motives for being a crime boss are shallow, sooner or later she'll soon realized that what she wants more is a Spider-man rematch. The good life that she has now will no longer mean anything to her as it is said that once a person gets everything they want, everything else in a material sense is no longer fun.

[Tuck]

Anna Maria's upfront approach yet still lying to Peter is really funny though.

You know, he's starting to come off like a chump. (At least he made some kind of comment to himself about needing to keep an eye on Liz at the end of Superior, but starting to come off like a chump, yeah.)

Using another female villain without a close connection to Spidey just wouldn't have worked.

Probably. But this isn't working either.

The Black Cat's been in a rut for decades. This turn towards outright villainy is the most interesting thing anyone's done with Felicia in ages, maybe ever.

I don't know. The appeal of the character was always that she is mischievous and fun. She is not those things anymore, but vapidness has been added to her personality now.

As for the rut, that's her connection to Spider-Man. They've needed to disentangle her from Peter for a long time now. This doesn't do it. It's a change, but the wrong one.