Mary Jane Watson Just Became Marvel’s New Black Cat

Warning! Spoilers for Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 by Marvel Comics

Mary Jane Watson just became the new Black Cat and assisted Marvel’s greatest thief to help save Peter Parker’s life as he faced immediate danger. In Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1, MJ and Felicia Hardy work together to help steal a magical item desired by The Hood, who threatens a hospitalized Peter Parker to get what he wants. Mary Jane dons the iconic Black Cat costume and helps the antihero pull off an epic heist.

It’s not exactly rare for a superhero’s love interest and partner to get their own hero costume themselves in the comics, as it’s happened with Lois Lane, Pepper Potts, and Peggy Carter, among many others. For Mary Jane Watson, she’s had her own Spider-Man-like costume on a handful of occasions. Whether it’s in canon like when MJ wore the Iron Spider armor in The Amazing Spider-Man, or in an alternate universe story like her Spinneret Suit in Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Watson has become a superhero multiple times. It’s important to note that Mary Jane Watson is undoubtedly a hero in the Marvel Universe without a suit or powers. Still, she doesn’t often get a costume to match like traditional superheroes.

In Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 by Jed MacKay, C.F. Villa, Rick Arciniega, and VC’s Travis Lanham, The Hood shows in Peter Parker’s hospital room and threatens to put a bullet in his head if Black Cat doesn’t retrieve his magical hood. Black Cat agrees as Mary Jane Watson tells the thief she will not let her work alone. Black Cat and MJ go through a series of schemes through the underbelly of New York to find the hood, ultimately leading them to Tombstone. Black Cat gets Watson to suit up, as the pair pull off an epic heist, with Mary Jane dressing up as the feline-themed hero and scaling a whole building while serving as a distraction as Felicia Hardy found what they were after.

After taking down the Hood, Spider-Man awakens to both Black Cats standing over him and hilariously responds by saying, “it’s this dream again. Be gentle, please.” Mary Jane and Black Cat end up conversing on the hospital roof top, where Felicia compliments her “dump truck ass” fitting into the Black Cat costume. After a heart-to-heart, the two Black Cats agree Peter Parker is a big nerd “pulling babes” way out of his league.

Mary Jane Watson’s turn as Black Cat proves to be a fun romp, as she makes a great team with Peter Parker’s former flame, Felicia Hardy. The costume looks great, and she kicks ass in it. MJ proves once again she’s just as much of a hero as Spider-Man without the powers. Hopefully, Mary Jane has more Black Cat appearances in the future – but if it was a one-time thing, it was a worthwhile team-up.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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