Ben Madilynn
Black Cat has undergone a symbiote makeover, blending with Venom on a variant cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #32. Released back in October 2023, the cover reveals what could very well be the cat burglar’s greatest redesign. Many of Marvel’s iconic characters have had a turn becoming “Venomized,” and Felicia is a perfect candidate for the process.
The Amazing Spider-Man #32 has the creative team of Zeb Wells, Patrick Gleason, Marcio Menyz, and Joe Caramagna. The issue features the titular hero facing off against Kraven the Hunter and Queen Goblin (not to be confused with Madelyne Pryor’s Goblin Queen). More interesting than the issue, however, is a variant cover for it by Pablo Villalobos.
The cover, featuring Black Cat, was a retailer exclusive, but it has the potential to be one of Felicia Hardy’s greatest looks. While not the first Venomized version, it is one of the best yet.
Black Cat’s Venom Redesign Continues to Surface in Variant Covers
Symbiote Makeovers Provide Marvel Heroes & Villains With Stunning Looks
Marvel’s Black Cat doesn’t have a lot in the way of powers in a traditional sense, but the ones she has could be extra potent if combined with a symbiote bond. Originally granted to her by Kingpin, Felicia has a bad luck ability, paired with the ability to alter probability. This hasn’t always proven beneficial to her, particularly when negatively impacting her allies. Shifting between a life of crime and ally to Marvel’s heroes, Black Cat’s minimal powers would be improved upon by a symbiote bond, and she’d gain additional physical boosts from the merge.
Already Black Cat maintains a black and white color scheme, which already matches the symbiote perfectly. Part of what makes a Venomized Black Cat so intriguing is that her basic look gets upgraded, without losing most of what makes her so easily recognizable. This concept has been presented a number of times on variant covers, including one from Mark Brooks for Black Cat #2 (2019) and another by Guillem March for Amazing Spider-Man #16 (2015). Each of these has been exclusive for assorted events and shops including, ComicXposure, Comic Sketch Art, 616 Comics, Unknown Comics, Comic Traders, and Fandom Comic Shop.
Venomized Black Cat Would Spruce Up Felicia Hardy’s Wardrobe
Felicia’s on-and-off relationship with Spider-Man has always been strained by her love of masked life, her impressive thieving skills, and her bad luck aura. Adding the Venom symbiote into the mix would likely cause even more issues between the two. Black Cat would be a much fiercer foe against everyone she could face if given the chance to merge with a symbiote. She hasn’t had very many alternate looks, sticking with her fur-trimmed black suit for decades. Her biggest shift came with the costume from the PS4 game, Spider-Man. Otherwise her fashion is usually rather stagnant relative to other Marvel characters.
Already Black Cat maintains a black and white color scheme, which already matches the symbiote perfectly.
The Venom makeover is sleek, exuding power and beauty simultaneously. Mark Brooks also did variant covers featuring Felicia with Anti-Venom and Carnage for the same issue in 2019 as the Venom makeover. Each symbiote twist shows how incredible she would look with the potential to be a fan-favorite shift. Black Cat bonding with Venom would be her best redesign, as it maintains her signature color scheme, but adds a fun, eerie twist.
