Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we can finally see Spider-Man fighting alongside the Avengers on the big screen. And the MCU has taken full advantage of that fact since Tom Holland's Peter Parker made his debut in 2016's Captain America: Civil War. So far we've seen Spidey join forces with Iron Man's Avengers faction and be mentored by both Tony Stark and Happy Hogan in Spider-Man: Homecoming . And he'll be lending a helping hand when the team battles Thanos in next year's Avengers: Infinity War.

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The New Avengers

Breaking Up With Tony Stark

The Heroic Age

Funding the Avengers

Frankly, the MCU Spidey is lucky he has such a smooth working relationship with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Historically, that hasn't usually been the case in Marvel's comic book universe. Let's take a look back at some of the key encounters between Spider-Man and the Avengers and why it took several decades for Peter Parker to finally gain his Avengers ID card.The Avengers Vol. 1 #11 (1964)Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didn't waste much time after debuting Earth's Mightiest Heroes before they brought Spider-Man into the fold. Surprisingly, Spidey was actually the villain in this first team-up story. Sort of, anyway. This issue saw Kang the Conqueror try to take advantage of Iron Man's MIA status by attacking the team with a robotic duplicate of Spider-Man. The robot actually managed to defeat the Avengers before the real Spidey finally swooped in to save the day.This encounter proved that Spidey had more than enough power to stand alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Plus, you'd think the team would be grateful enough for the assist that they'd gladly extend an invitation. Instead, Iron Man flatly denied Spidey's membership request, proving once again that Spider-Man just can't catch a break.The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3 (1966)The Avengers proved much more amenable to the idea of Spider-Man joining their ranks in this second team-up adventure. It didn't hurt that Daredevil gave a glowing recommendation for his wallcrawler pal.Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Spidey almost immediately began butting heads with the Avengers once it became clear that no one had any idea how to test his mettle. They eventually decided to send him to bring the Hulk into custody. But after discovering that Hulk was also poor, puny Bruce Banner, Peter chose to let him go free rather than face incarceration (or worse). Reluctantly, Peter decided the Avengers lifestyle wasn't for him.More than any other comic, this story revolves around the same struggles Peter faces in Homecoming in terms of wanting to live a normal, happy life while also pining for the fame and glory that comes with being an Avenger.The Avengers Vol. 1 #236-237 (1983)It would be the better part of two decades before Spider-Man reconsidered his decision to join the Avengers. And when he did change his mind, he was basically motivated by money. Upon learning that active Avengers earn a $1000 per week stipend, Peter saw the opportunity to finally end his days as a struggling freelance photographer.Things seemed to be going much smoother this time around, with Spidey helping the Avengers deal with a conflict with the Lava Men and becoming an official "Avengers-in-training." Sadly, even as an Avenger, life never seems to go Peter's way. The US Government forbade the Avengers from accepting Spider-Man as a member, citing him as a potential security risk. Thus, it was back to being a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.The New Avengers Vol. 1 #1-6 (2005)At long last, Spider-Man finally became a card-carrying member of the Avengers when the ongoing Avengers comic was relaunched as New Avengers in 2005. New Avengers featured an eclectic cast that included mainstays like Captain America and Iron Man, A-Listers like Spidey and Wolverine and more unusual choices like Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and The Sentry. This new team was brought together by circumstance, coming together to help stop a breakout at the superhuman prison known as The Raft. And from there, they just sort of stuck together. Not unlike the Avengers in the MCU.Thanks to this new status quo, Spider-Man finally got a taste of what it's like to be a respected superhero with actual resources at his disposal. Peter and his family moved into Avengers Tower. Tony Stark even took Peter under his wing (again, much like their relationship in the MCU). But as with all things in Peter's life, it wasn't to last...Civil War #1-7 (2006-07)Spider-Man's tenure with the New Avengers only lasted a matter of weeks in Marvel time. Whereas the Civil War movie was responsible for bringing Spidey to the Avengers' attention in the MCU, in the comics that same conflict caused a giant rift between Spider-Man and Iron Man. Peter initially supported the Superhuman Registration Act, going so far as to reveal his identity to the entire world in a brave show of support. That backfired spectacularly when Peter broke ranks with the pro-registration faction and suddenly became a wanted fugitive with a busted secret identity.That mistake had all sorts of ramifications for Spider-Man, one of which being the infamous One More Day storyline where Peter and MJ sacrificed their marriage to Mephisto to restore Peter's secret identity and save Aunt May's life. The good news is that he remained a member of the New Avengers. The bad news is that the version of the New Avengers by that point was nothing more than a ragtag bunch of SHRA-defying fugitives working against Iron Man's government-approved team. But on the bright side, at least heroes like Luke Cage and Hawkeye learned what it's like to be Spider-Man on a daily basis.The Avengers Vol. 4 #1 (2010)Spider-Man and his fellow New Avengers got a second chance at superhero legitimacy during Marvel's "Heroic Age." With the wounds from Civil War more or less healed, the Avengers came together to embrace a brighter future. Spidey actually found himself a member of two different Avengers teams - Captain America and Iron Man's main crew and Luke Cage's street-level New Avengers team.This time around, Spidey's tenure as an Avenger lasted a good, long while. The ordinary citizens of the Marvel U. even began to grudgingly tolerate a hero they used to shun on a daily basis. The Heroic Age was Peter Parker's first real taste of fame and respectability.The Avengers Vol. 6 #1 (2016)A lot changed in the Marvel Universe in the aftermath of 2015's Secret Wars, but perhaps no character was more fundamentally altered than Spider-Man. Peter Parker found himself the CEO of a multinational corporation called Parker Industries. Suddenly, the down-on-his-luck guy who used to struggle to make ends meet was a globetrotting playboy and philanthropist who supplied SHIELD with most of its fancy tech.Those newfound responsibilities left Peter with no time to continue hanging around the Avengers, so for a while Miles Morales took his place as the designated Spider-Man of the Avengers. But when the events of Civil War II took Tony Stark off the board and left the Avengers with no leader and no financial resources, Peter found himself stepping in. In an ironic twist, the guy who was once turned away by Iron Man became the team's financial backer. Funny how things change.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN