All About Rita Conway, One of Marvel’s First Black Woman Characters

While much has been written about the Marvel Universe and its Black characters, not much is known about one of its first Black woman characters: Rita Conway. However, that all changed thanks to Kim Fields.

In a recent video posted to social media, the “Living Single” star shared a little-known fact about her mother, Chip, and her Marvel connection. She revealed that her mom (known as Chip Hurd at the time) was the first Black woman character in the Marvel universe. However, she technically was the first Black woman to portray a recurring character in a live-action “Spider-Man” production, thanks to her role as Conway on the popular 1978 CBS show.

“Chip Hurd…was the first African American female in the Marvel Universe because she did a TV show called “The Amazing Spider-Man” back in the day. On CBS, I believe. She played Rita [Conway], who was the secretary at the newspaper where Peter Parker worked,” Fields shared.

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She went on to talk about her history with Marvel and fond memories of visiting her mother on the set of the show. Kim also said that because of that connection, she’s always reminded of her mother’s role whenever she sees anything related to “Spider-Man.”

Say what?! Consider our flabbers gasted! Having this new info, we, of course, had to do some digging to see what Rita Conway was all about back then. Here’s what we found out.

Rita Conway did, in fact, work as a secretary at the Daily Bugle and was also a good friend of Peter Parker, per the official Marvel Fandom database. However, her character was not originally in the comics. In fact, she was created specifically for the show and was essentially the reimagined version of Gloria “Glory” Grant, a “Spider-Man” comics character who also worked at the Bugle. (Grant would make her onscreen debut years later in the animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri voicing her.)

While she wasn’t a superhero, Conway was plugged into the action and often served as part of Peter’s everyday world. Her connection to Peter also made her a minor love interest, although the series never turned their friendship into a full-blown romance. During the show’s two-season run, Conway appeared in 13 episodes, making her one of its most consistent supporting characters.

Looking back on her character today (thanks in large part to Kim) its clear that Conway represented an early attempt to bring a Black woman into Spider-Man’s live-action universe as more than a one-off character. And though she didn’t wear a super suit or save the city from bad guys, she carved out her own lane and proved to be an important woman. When you consider how few Black characters were part of mainstream superhero television in the late ’70s, Conway’s presence and Chip’s acting are both undoubtedly worth remembering!

Check out a scene from the show below!

Once Black Marvel fans got wind of the news, many were quick to express their excitement.

“Chip Fields doesn’t get her 10’s enough! I’m glad Kim keeps her mom legacy alive and talked about!! I didn’t even know this,” wrote one user on X/Twitter.

One other user wrote: “That’s such a cool piece of Spider-Man history—her mom was part of the story long before today’s MCU.”

Added another, “Yes indeedy the MCU should’ve been gave her a small role in any of the Spider-Man movies, just like they did for Lou Ferrigno his small cameos in the hulk movies.”