Anastasia Hardy is a wealthy business woman and the mother of Felicia Hardy.
History
Early life
Dr. Otto Octavius was once an employee of Anastasia Hardy at the Hardy Foundation. Anastasia gave Octavius a grant to fund his research into a cold fusion battery. However, Octavius was not making as much progress on his research as Anastasia wanted so she cut funding for his research.
Later life
The return of Doctor Octopus
Several years later Otto Octavius (now calling himself Doctor Octopus) returned and kidnapped Felicia Hardy for revenge against Anastasia Hardy. Doctor Octopus then held Felicia for ransom. When Spider-Man attempted to save her he failed and Anastasia blamed Spider-Man for her daughter not being returned to her. Eventually Spider-Man was able to save Felicia and she was returned to Anastasia unharmed.
Kidnapped by the Green Goblin
Aside from being the head of the Hardy Foundation, Anastasia was also on the board of directors of OsCorp.
When Anastasia learned that Norman Osborn had secretly been developing chemical weapons she called him to a meeting of the board. There Anastasia scolded Norman and told him that he had a responsibility to humanity which included not creating chemical weapons. At that meeting Anastasia threatened Norman that she would urge the other board members to vote him out of the company at their next meeting.
However, Norman supposedly died in an explosion at OsCorp. The truth was that Norman actually did survive and during the explosion he breathed in a gas that gave him super strength and also caused him to develop a split personality. Norman's split personality modified a Hobgoblin costume that was stored at OsCorp and took Hobgoblin's weapons. Norman's alternate personality began to call himself Green Goblin and planned to get revenge of the board of directors for voting him out of his company.
When Spider-Man learned that Green Goblin was abducting the OsCorp board members he hurried to Felicia's apartment where Anastasia was staying but he was too late. Green Goblin grabbed both Anastasia and Felicia and used his Goblin Glider to fly into the sky. Green Goblin then dropped Felicia. As Spider-Man saved Felicia, Green Goblin flew away with Anastasia. Spider-Man knew that Green Goblin wasn't going to Anastasia because he knew Green Goblin wanted to take her hostage.
Green Goblin later put Anastasia and the other board members through a mock trial. During the trial Green Goblin blamed the OsCorp board for driving Norman Osborn to his destruction. Green Goblin reminded Anastasia that she had called Norman Osborn a threat to humanity but years earlier used funded the research of Otto Octavius who later became the criminal known as Doctor Octopus. However, Spider-Man arrived and was able to save Anastasia and the other board members. Spider-Man then defeated Green Goblin and learned that he was really Norman Osborn.
In the comics
In the comics, her name was Lydia Hardy.
Unlike Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the comics, Lydia, her husband, Walter, and her daughter, Felicia, were a poor family.
Appearances
- The Spider Slayer (Mentioned only)
- Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous
- The Insidious Six (Mentioned only)
- Make a Wish
- Enter the Green Goblin
Trivia
- Anastasia Hardy was an original character created specifically for Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
