Marvel Officially Rows Back Major X-Men Announcement

Published Nov 11, 2026, 9:00 AM EST

Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.

Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.

Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.

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A major X-Men announcement that enraged some fans and excited others was just rowed back, as Marvel confirms that a major hero supposedly joining the team isn't what it initially seemed.

In September, Marvel announced that Black Cat would soon join the X-Men. The publisher shared a radical redesign of the antiheroic cat burglar and seemingly confirmed her newfound mutant status, apparently complete with new superpowers. Marvel told fans they'd "Witness Felicia Hardy's own second genesis - as the newest member of the X-Men!"

Now, Marvel reveals this announcement wasn't what it seemed. Black Cat isn't actually being folded into ongoing X-Men lore, and her new look won't be around for long. Here are the details...

Black Cat Isn't Actually Joining The X-Men

In today's Black Cat #16 - from G. Willow Wilson, Andrés Genolet, Brian Reber and Joe Caramagna - Felicia Hardy is contacted by Emma Frost, who asks for her help heisting an experimental CPU from the clutches of the Alaskan X-Men. Emma cites her past relationship with Cyclops as the reason she can't just ask his team for the device.

Far from Black Cat joining the team as a mutant, Emma confirms that she'll disguise the burglar so she can rob the X-Men. The new look is actually just a disguise, with Emma Frost stating, "I'm going to cloak you from a distance. You'll look different."

While Marvel certainly didn't exactly LIE to fans, it definitely implied that Black Cat was genuinely joining the X-Men. This perception was helped by Black Cat having inconsistent superpowers across Marvel lore, sometimes possessing an ability to inflict 'bad luck' on those who oppose her thanks to experiments carried out by the Kingpin.

This history made it believable that Black Cat's powers would be retconned as a nascent mutant ability, with her supposed redesign erasing much of her character attributes, but keeping enough that it was believable this was simply Felicia in a new costume. Strangely, the summary for issue #18 confirms that Felicia will possess "new mutant powers" - something which may be part of Emma's ruse, or which could have another explanation entirely.

Is Black Cat's New X-Men Heist a Better Story?

While some fans certainly didn't see where Marvel was taking Black Cat, the publisher never shared anything that wasn't technically true, and this will be a huge relief to some fans. It's rare that a character's mutant status is reversed (Fantastic Four's Franklin Richards aside), and fans had worried that this storyline would irrevocably tie to Black Cat to X-Men lore.

Instead, this arc will see Black Cat doing what's made her such a breakout character over the last decade - roaming across the entire Marvel Universe, robbing a selection of heroes and villains blind for her own interests.

From the X-Men side of things, Black Cat is adding to the existing status quo, with her mission highlighting the tensions between Cyclops and Emma Frost, which fans have seen simmering over in X-Men United.

X-Men Is Still Adding Some Non-Mutant Characters

Fans who hoped Black Cat would bring a new perspective to X-Men lore don't need to worry, as several non-mutant characters actually ARE joining the X-Men in upcoming comics. The new X-Orcists series from Ashley Allen and Germán Peralta will see characters including Blade's daughter Bloodline and Elsa Bloodstone join Magik, Juggernaut and Madelyne Pryor to hunt a demon targeting mutants.

Meanwhile, X-Men United continues to showcase a range of guest stars, with characters like Daredevil and Captain America joining the X-Men for one-off missions. However, as Black Cat just confirmed, Felicia Hardy's membership is very different - the result of a daring heist by Felicia and Emma Frost, with her seeming transformation just a trick to fool Cyclops' Alaskan X-Men.

Black Cat #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.