Black Cat Fact — November 4, 2026

Today's Fact

The Marvel Universe's most enthusiastic burglar once drew a government paycheck to arrest people — and her team leader assumed she was only in it for the money.

BLACK CAT ONCE WENT LEGIT FOR THE GOVERNMENT — HUNTING UNREGISTERED HEROES WITH MISTY KNIGHT'S HEROES FOR HIRE!

The Featured Fact

During Marvel's Civil War, Felicia Hardy did something nobody who knew her expected: she registered. When the Superhuman Registration Act became law, Black Cat signed up — and then accepted an offer from Misty Knight and Colleen Wing to join their re-formed Heroes for Hire, a bail-bond operation bankrolled to track down heroes and villains who refused to register.

It was a genuine career swerve, not a con. Felicia had already been edging toward the straight life, running her own private detective and security firm, Cat's Eye Investigations. Heroes for Hire made it official: the cat burglar became a bounty hunter, working cases alongside Shang-Chi, Paladin and the new Tarantula, with Misty openly suspecting her motives the whole time.

The team's first targets were the biggest names on the unregistered side — up to and including Captain America himself. Felicia stayed with the outfit through its Civil War campaign and beyond, and the friendship with Misty outlasted the job: years later it was Misty who called her back to arms for the Fearless Defenders.

Why It's Obscure

Queenpin, detective, bounty hunter — Felicia's strangest loot was a W-2.

HEROES FOR HIRE #1 (2006)

The unlikely roster. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti relaunched the title as a Civil War tie-in: Misty Knight and Colleen Wing spending government funding on bail bonds, underworld contacts and a team that put Black Cat on a payroll.

REGISTERED AND RECRUITED

She chose a side. Marvel's official character history puts it plainly — Felicia opted to register under the Act, then joined the re-formed Heroes for Hire to apprehend the unregistered. For a woman introduced breaking into secure facilities, that is a plot twist.

CAT'S EYE INVESTIGATIONS

Legit was already brewing. Before the badge-adjacent work, Felicia had opened her own detective and security consulting firm — proof the Heroes for Hire stint grew out of a real attempt at going straight, not a long game.

FEARLESS DEFENDERS (2013)

The friendship stuck. Misty overlooked Felicia's pettier crimes; Felicia answered Misty's calls. Their Heroes for Hire bond later pulled Black Cat into the Fearless Defenders against the Doom Maidens, alongside Valkyrie and Storm.

Gallery

The burglar in her working suit, and the one-time boss who hired her to catch people instead of rob them.

Black Cat in costume — **The registrant**Felicia Hardy in the suit she wore on both sides of the law — burglar first, but for one strange season, a government-backed bounty hunter.

Black Cat on a rooftop — **Rooftops, now with paperwork**The Heroes for Hire years kept the night work and the rooftops; only the employer changed, from Felicia herself to Misty Knight and the United States government.

**The boss who doubted her**Misty Knight — former NYPD, owner of the bionic arm, and the woman who hired Black Cat while believing she was only there for the money.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Marvel.com — Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) In Comics Marvel's official history: Felicia registered during Civil War and joined the re-formed Heroes for Hire with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing to apprehend unregistered heroes and villains.
Marvel Database — Felicia Hardy (Earth-616) Corroborates the Misty Knight and Colleen Wing offer, the unregistered-hero assignments, and Felicia's own detective firm, Cat's Eye Investigations.