All Of Spider-Man's Love Interests Explained

The Black Cat, a cat burglar who vacillates between villain and antihero, is the classic example of the girl you shouldn't take home to meet your parents. While Black Cat and Spider-Man have both known one another as Felicia Hardy and Peter Parker for years, a key element of their relationship is that Hardy prefers Spider-Man over Peter Parker. Hardy finds a sense of freedom in mainly being the Black Cat and struggles to understand why Parker refuses to do the same. A unique element of Black Cat is how she is framed against MJ. As MJ became the stable romantic figure in Parker's life (a place initially occupied by Stacy), Black Cat became positioned as a temptress. 

An extension of this, their relationship has largely been based on secrets. As Tim Stevens wrote for Marvel.com, "When Peter Parker revealed himself to be the one and only Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man live on television, Felicia Hardy could not help but take it personally. As one of the first people he ever revealed his identity to and still one of the few who knew it, she had felt special, as though he trusted her in a way he trusted few others. However, if he could tell the world, well, maybe their friendship had not been as special as she assumed."

Basically, while Parker dreams of a normal life, the Black Cat wants every aspect of her life to be as thrilling as fighting crime or stealing something priceless. With that said, it appears that the jealousy between Black Cat and MJ has evolved into mutual respect.