#literally why do people keep shoving spider-man with the batfam in DC crossovers when clearly his most kindred spirits are the flashfam

[nitewrighter]

Honestly, Spider-Man would be a part of SO MANY bromances. Pretty much the entire "OG Teen Titans" era of heroes up to the 80's Titans era, notably including Dick Grayson and Wally West... and probably some heroes introduced following the Death of Superman, too, like Kyle Rayner. He'd almost definitely insert himself as some sort of surrogate big brother figure for Beast Boy/Changeling and Connor Kent, once the latter pops up.

But yeah, Spidey + girls who could fold him like a lawn chair are always a fun paring, especially when they get to match his goofiness once in a while.

The peak "Spidey-Maturity" level to me, is when he's slotted himself into a big brother role, cracking jokes not just to break tension, but to lift spirits when people need it the most, or inspires them to step up to the plate with the kind of pep talk they needed to hear, where before they were positively terrified of the fight to come. The Spidey who's been through the wringer enough times to be able to tell at a glance when someone's also had one hell of a day or week and suss out a way to get them to have a much-needed laugh... and the guy who, when he gives his "With Great Power must also come Great Responsibility" spiel, people get it, and self-actualize into great heroes in their own right instead of brushing him off or disparaging him.

Spidey and Cyborg would be SUCH A COOL COMBO. Wiry Mouthy Nontraditional Family geek meets Daddy Issues Jock-Turned-Geek. And again, they have a lot of flexibility in terms of how you're interpreting the characters and how serious/dramatic you want the narrative to be.

I feel like Spidey would also be well matched with the Flash's Rogue's Gallery. You have a good range of campy-to-terrifying with them, and a lot of them are already written with having an earnest wise-cracker foil in mind. Ooh--Spidey with Impulse would be delightful, honestly.