Walter Hardy

Walter Hardy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a world-renowned cat burglar and the father of Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. Black Cat.

Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979).^[1]

Walter Hardy is a well-known cat burglar who was arrested at some point. Years later, Black Cat steals precinct papers on the prison holding him. Peter Parker learns that Walter has been imprisoned for several decades and is terminally ill. At the prison, Spider-Man fights Black Cat while her accomplices Boris Korpse and Bruno Grainger blast the wall to Walter Hardy's prison cell, the rubble of which buries Spider-Man.^[2]

Spider-Man and the police are unable to stop Black Cat, Korpse, and Grainger from capturing Walter Hardy. At her home, Black Cat reveals that she is Walter's daughter Felicia and that her mother Lydia purposefully hid his past from her. Walter then leaves to spend his final moments with his wife. After Black Cat falls into the river, Spider-Man meets with Lydia as she mourns Walter's death.^[3]

When Black Cat is hospitalized following Spider-Man's battle with Doctor Octopus, she claims to have seen Walter's ghost.^[4]

Walter Hardy had 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 could also use the cable from this device as a tightrope, wall scaling device, swing line, and/or as a weapon in combat.

An alternate universe variant of Walter Hardy makes a minor appearance in Marvel Action: Spider-Man #7.^[5]

An alternate universe variant of Walter Hardy from Earth-65 appears in a flashback in Spider-Gwen #5. This version was a French thief partnered with his daughter Felicia who was killed by the Kingpin's underling Matt Murdock for robbing the former.^[6]

An alternate universe variant of Walter Hardy from Earth-6160 appears in Ultimate Spider-Man vol. 3. This version operates as the Black Cat and is regarded as one of the best thieves in the world who vanished into retirement and became a lieutenant of Wilson Fisk. Using his accumulated stolen wealth, Walter took control of and manages the Bronx on Fisk's behalf. Additionally, Walter married and had a daughter, Felicia, before his wife died years prior. In the present, due to the Green Goblin and Spider-Man interfering with Fisk's operations, Walter joins his Sinister Six to eliminate them.^[7] Making a game out of it, Walter tries his hand first, only to be defeated and temporarily hospitalized by the Goblin.^[8] Due to becoming wheelchair-bound, he passes the mantle of Black Cat to Felicia and asks her to take his place in Fisk's ranks to maintain his standing.^[9]

• A character based on Walter Hardy named John Hardesky appears in the Spider-Man (1994) consecutive episodes "The Cat" and "The Black Cat", voiced by John Phillip Law.^[10] As a boy, he was tricked by the Nazis into spying on Captain America's creation using his photographic memory. When Hardesky discovered the truth, he was hunted by a group sent by the Red Skull, though he successfully evaded them. Years later, he enters protective S.H.I.E.L.D. custody after a heist gone wrong until the Kingpin has the Chameleon replace him to get the super-soldier formula. Upon discovering it, the Kingpin tasks Doctor Octopus with kidnapping Hardesky's daughter Felicia Hardy before using her as a test subject for the formula, transforming her into the Black Cat. Spider-Man follows Black Cat to the Kingpin's hideout and rescues her and Hardesky after he destroys the super-soldier formula before it can be replicated. With the Kingpin's plan thwarted, Hardesky shares his goodbyes with his family 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 Jim Cummings in the episode "Intervention" and by James Remar in the episode "Opening Night".^[10] In the former episode, the alien symbiote Parker was bonded to at the time accesses a memory of the latter seeking revenge on a burglar who broke into his home and killed his Uncle Ben, only to discover he was the same robber he allowed to escape earlier that day. After Spider-Man subdues him, the burglar is arrested by the police. In the latter episode, Spider-Man discovers Hardy became an inmate of the Vault while testing the prison's security system and encounters Black Cat, who infiltrated the prison to break her father out. Amidst a prison break, Spider-Man recognizes Hardy as the burglar who killed Ben. Hardy expresses regret over killing Ben and offers to make amends by staying behind to subdue the other escaped inmates and allow Spider-Man and Black Cat to escape.

Walter Hardy appears in Spider-Man (2018), voiced by Daniel Riordan.^[10] This version previously operated as the Black Cat twenty years prior to the events of the game before he supposedly died and his daughter Felicia Hardy took up the mantle. During a side quest, Spider-Man is contacted by NYPD Detective "Mackey", who tasks him with tracking down paintings stolen by Walter. As Spider-Man looks for them, Mackey relays Walter's backstory to him, explaining that because of his skill as a thief, the Maggia sought to recruit him. Walter refused and allowed himself to be arrested before supposedly drowning in a failed escape attempt from Ryker's Island, though many suspect that he faked his death to protect his family from the Maggia. After collecting all of the stolen art pieces, Spider-Man discovers that Mackey is actually Walter, who adopted an alias to retrieve all the stolen paintings and use them to finance his retirement. Before he leaves, Walter asks Spider-Man to look after Felicia.

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