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While Black Cat is confident that she’s staying one step ahead to gather the Infinity Stones, she may be setting herself up for a cosmic betrayal.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Black Cat #9, on sale now from Marvel.
While Black Cat is one of the most accomplished thieves in the Marvel Universe, Felicia Hardy has been setting her sights for cosmic heights lately. Having gotten a taste of supreme power during the crossover event King in Black, the Black Cat and her crew are now in pursuit of recovering all six Infinity Stones, but they are not alone. Nick Fury, along with the violent antihero Nighthawk, are similarly hunting for the Stones themselves, with the two groups actively racing against each other. And as Black Cat tries to coerce a cosmic figure into joining her crew, she may be setting herself up for an explosive betrayal that could end her Infinity Stone heist before it has a chance to even begin.
Recently, Black Cat and her crew outmaneuvered Fury by seizing a stasis pod that contained the Captain Marvel supervillain Star. As Star revives, she is greeted by Felicia who makes her an offer she can’t refuse: Join her to recover all the Infinity Stones before Fury and, in return, Black Cat will ensure that Star remains out of Fury’s custody moving forward while also enjoying a power boost. When Star bristles at the implication that she is forced into Black Cat’s employ, Felicia reveals that she will have her crew kill Star should she lash out violently. Though Star appears to acquiesce to Black Cat’s non-voluntary offer, Black Cat #9 — by Jed MacKay, C.F. Villa, Brian Reber and Ferran Delgado — reveals that Star is not as cooperative as she initially appears.
Ripley Ryan possesses many incredible abilities thanks to her mixed human-Kree physiology and cosmic powers derived from the Reality Stone — among them being the ability to eavesdrop on those great distances away. Using this power, Star projects herself into Black Cat’s car as she and her crew drive away from the scene. As Black Cat and her associates discuss their next moves, she learns that they intend to approach other figures that are linked and empowered by the Infinity Stones. Star is especially intrigued when she learns that the avatars for the Stones grow stronger when in the immediate vicinity of each other, hinting at how Black Cat intended to give Star a power boost in exchange for her services.
At the end of her spinoff miniseries, Star had gained total control over the Reality Stone as she faced off against Captain Marvel in an epic showdown. While it is unknown how much of this mastery is retained following Star’s prolonged stasis, Star is unlikely to play nice for long, certainly not after learning Black Cat’s plans and the keys to her own power boost. And though Star reaching out to Nick Fury to take on a mutual threat in Black Cat is unlikely, given that she was imprisoned by the super-spy after her eventual defeat, such an alliance is not outside of the realm of possibility.
While Black Cat could have let slip her conversation with Star as part of a longer play against the supervillain, secretly aware of Star’s ability to eavesdrop on her, she is certainly playing a dangerous game either way. Star could find a way to contact the other Infinity Stone avatars and grow to a power level impossible for Black Cat to control. And unlikely to forgive or forget their initial conversation, Star is itching to show Felicia exactly what the price is for trying to put her in a corner.
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