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John
Semper on "Spider-Man": Black Cat
Interview by Jim Harvey
The
Marvel Animation Age was able to talk to Spider-Man: The Animated
Series writer/producer John Semper about the Black Cat character.
In the series, Peter’s
romantic dilemmas where often that he couldn’t chose between Mary Jane or
Felicia Hardy. What made you choose Felicia instead of Gwen Stacey?
I've
said in interviews before how I chose to go with Felicia Hardy instead of Gwen
Stacy because all roads with Gwen lead to death, which we couldn't really do on
Saturday morning. But Felicia in our series was really a completely new
character. She wasn't the Felicia of the comics at all. So I guess I can take
some credit for 'creating' the version of her that we used.
Obviously her becoming The
Black Cat later on in the show was bound to have some effect on the way you used
the character, but the similarities between comic Felicia and the cartoons
Felicia where few and far between. What where the reasons for the changes?
I
though it made her more interesting and very different from Mary Jane, who was
much more 'middle-class.' This Felicia was wealthy and a bit snobby, a total
departure from the comics. It was something fresh and new. We even cast her
voice, performed by the wonderful Jennifer Hale, to be like that."
What thought went into introducing The Black Cat to cartoon audiences?
I didn't know if I'd last
long enough on the series to actually do it. And the way we did it, with the
whole John Hardeski thing, didn't really occur to me until much later. That
whole sub-plot that linked her to Captain America and the Super Soldier Serum
was completely my idea and I'm damned proud of it.
I always though that having somebody project 'bad luck' on somebody else as a
'super power'—the Black Cat's super-power in the comic books—was ridiculous.
Doing the Super Soldier Serum thing got us into a much deeper, richer storyline,
which is what I had to do to keep the series unpredictable and interesting."
The animated series introduced Felicia's father, John Hardeski, a World War II
spy whose photographic memory allowed him to remember the precise formula for
the Super Soldier Serum. The serum was eventually used on Captain America and
The Black Cat; later, the Kingpin got his hands on Hardeski and the formula,
which was then used on Felicia.
The show starred some of the most talented voice actors in the business. Are
there any that especially stood?

I had met John Phillip Law at a convention and I'd always though he was a
foreigner who was dubbed in all his movies,
such as Barbarella, and Danger Diabolik. To my utter amazement, he
opened his mouth and spoke and that deep 'dubbed' voice was his real voice! So I
asked him if he'd do the voice of Felicia's father and he agreed. He's a great
guy, too. He did a great job.
Looking back on The Black
Cat, is there anything you would have done differently?
I don't know that I would have done anything differently with Black Cat. I liked
the while Morbius/Black Cat relationship that came along later. That was fun.
All the female cast members used to giggle like schoolgirls every time the actor
playing Morbius, Nick Jameson, would purr "Feliciaaaaaaaaaa...." in his Slavic
accent."
The censors where
especially strict on Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Where there any
incidents with Black Cat involving the censors?
I never had any censor
trouble specifically with her that I can rememberAs for doing more with the
characters, I would have absolutely loved to continue writing adventures with
these characters. It came very easily for me, since I was a huge Spidey fan from
way back."
Spider-Man: The Animated Series has remained on the air since the last
new episode aired almost four years ago. The series continues to grab ratings on
it's current home, ABC Family. Any comments on how popular the show remains?
I'm very glad the series continues to entertain audiences. It means I did my
job, which was reinvigorate the franchise and produce a hit series. I did both,
so I'm proud of that. I like to think that in some small way we set the stage
for the huge success of last summer's movie, which I still haven't gotten around
to seeing yet. Too much like 'deja-vu all over again,' as the saying goes.
I hear they're struggling their way through a new Spider-Man animated
series for
MTV. I'm still
waiting for a phone call. Avi, are you listening? I can hear Avi responding
right now, 'Over my dead body!'"
Thanks John!
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