Forty-seven years after Marvel Comics introduced Spider-Man character Black Cat, Felicia Hardy appears headed for a major identity shake-up. According to Marvel’s official solicitation for "Black Cat" #17, Felicia will not only become the newest member of the X-Men, but seemingly undergo a transformation into a mutant—rewriting her place in the Marvel Universe.
Marvel’s solicitation reads: "Meet the newest mutant… Felicia Hardy?! Witness Felicia Hardy’s own second genesis—as the newest member of the X-Men!" It adds that her encounter with the White Queen, Emma Frost, left her changed, with the word "mutated" hinting at a physical transformation.
The seeds for the twist were planted early in the forthcoming "Black Cat" #16, which sees Emma recruit Felicia for a mission. Its solicitation pointedly asks: "But Felicia isn’t a mutant…is she?!" With #17 continuing that storyline, Marvel appears ready to make the transformation official.
▼Black Cat #16
▼Black Cat #17
Felicia was not originally a mutant when she debuted in 1979’s "The Amazing Spider-Man" #194. She has wielded probability-altering bad-luck powers and gained other abilities through experiments connected to Kingpin. Whether Marvel will now reinterpret those existing powers as mutant abilities remains to be seen.
"BLACK CAT" #16
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Andrés Genolet
Release Date: November 11, 2026
"BLACK CAT" #17
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Andrés Genolet
Release Date: December 9, 2026
via： Bleeding Cool