Walter Hardy

The Cat
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979)
Created by	Marv Wolfman Keith Pollard
In-story information
Alter ego	Walter Hardy
Notable aliases	John Hardesky

Walter Hardy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979). He is a world-renowned cat burglar and the father of Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat.

Fictional character biography

Walter Hardy is a well-known cat burglar who got arrested at some point. Years later, Black Cat stole precinct papers on the prison that is holding her father. Peter Parker researched Walter Hardy where he learned that Walter Hardy had been locked up in New York Prison for the past few decades and is now terminally ill. At New York Prison, Spider-Man fights Black Cat while her accomplices Boris Korpse and Bruno Grainger blast the wall to Walter Hardy's prison cell which caused some rubble to bury Spider-Man.

With Spider-Man unable to get out of the rubble, the prison officers are unable to stop Black Cat, Boris Korpse, and Bruno Grainger from making off with Walter Hardy. While at Walter Hardy's home, Black Cat reveals her identity of Felicia Hardy to her terminally-ill father where she also mentioned that her mother Lydia hid his past from her. Black Cat then leave to spend his final moments with his wife. After Black Cat falls into the river, Spider-Man goes to meet up with Lydia Hardy who is weeping over Walter's death.

At the time when Black Cat is in the hospital following Spider-Man's battle with Doctor Octopus, she claimed to Peter Parker that she was visited by the ghost of Walter Hardy.

Powers and abilities

The Cat has a miniature grappling hook device, which enables him to swing from buildings in a manner similar to Spider-Man, though not quite as fast. He can also use the cable from this device as a tightrope, wall scaling device, swing line, and/or as a weapon in combat. He has photographic memory as well.

Other versions

The Ultimate Marvel version of the character is identified as Jack Hardy and is seen on a list of known cat burglars in the Daily Bugle database.

In other media

Television

John Hardesky in Spider-Man: The Animated Series

• The Cat appeared in the Spider-Man episodes "The Cat" and "The Black Cat", voiced by John Phillip Law. The character's name is changed to John Hardesky, but is still similar to his comic counterpart. As a boy, he was tricked by the Nazis into spying on the Captain America experiment and had a picture-memory of it. When he found out who the real Nazis were, he evaded them when Red Skull sent them after Walter and he managed to give them the slip. Years later, he is shown in protective S.H.I.E.L.D. custody until the Kingpin had Chameleon replace him so that Kingpin can get the formula to make his own super-soldiers. Upon discovering the formula, Kingpin decides to arrange a "family reunion" by having Doctor Octopus kidnap Felicia Hardy. She becomes a test subject to the super-soldier formula subjected to her by Herbert Landon and is transformed into the Black Cat. After encountering Black Cat, Spider-Man follows her to Kingpin's hideout and rescues her and Walter. Walter destroys the super-soldier serum before Herbert Landon can duplicate it. With Kingpin's plan thwarted, Walter says goodbye to his daughter and willingly returns to S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
• Walter Hardy, amalgamated with the Burglar, appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by James Remar. In a flashback accessed by the Venom symbiote, he is shown robbing Sullivan Edwards and escaping in the elevator. After Peter Parker's Uncle Ben is murdered, Peter investigates as Spider-Man and finds out that the murderer was chased to an abandoned warehouse. Though the burglar falls out of the window, Spider-Man saves him and leaves him for the police. In the episode "Opening Night", the burglar's identity as the Black Cat's father is revealed to Spider-Man at the time when Green Goblin releases all of the Vault's inmates. Black Cat arrives to bust him out of the Vault as Spider-Man is testing it out. Even though Black Cat wants him to escape with her, Walter decides to remain in the Vault to atone for Uncle Ben's murder.

Video Games

• Walter Hardy appears in the 2018 Spider-Man video game voiced by Daniel Riordan. He is featured as a sidequest in the DLC episode "The Heist." Spider-Man agrees to help NYPD's Detective Mackey of the Greenwich precinct track down paintings stolen by Walter, who was the original Black Cat. As Spider-Man looks for the paintings, Mackey relays Walter's backstory to the hero. Walter's skill as a thief eventually caught the interest of the Maggia. When Walter refused to join the Maggia, he let himself get arrested and supposedly died drowning in a failed escape attempt from Ryker's. After collecting all of the stolen art, Spider-Man returns to the precinct and discovers from the detective's disappearance that Mackey is actually Walter, who faked his death and took on an alias to ensure that the Maggia wouldn't go after his daughter Felicia. Before he leaves, Walter asks Spider-Man to take care of the new Black Cat.

External links

• Walter Hardy at Marvel Wiki
• Walter Hardy at Comic Vine