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From his most beloved girlfriend to women who betrayed him and others who remain there for him when he needs it to this day, here are Spider-Man’s best girlfriends in Marvel Comics.
10) Debra Whitman
Debra Whitman was one of the worst Peter Parker romantic relationships in Spider-Man comics. First, she worked as a secretary at Empire State University, and she began dating Peter while he was a student there. Debra also has a mental disorder where she idealizes people and inverts her values on them. As a result, she began to believe Peter was Spider-Man, and when her psychiatrist asked Peter to wear a Spider-Man costume in front of her to snap her out of it, he did so to help her snap out of it, and it worked, making her finally leave New York and get her life in order. The issue where this happened almost made her mental disorder a joke, and it was one of Marvel Comics’ worst depictions of mental illness. Debra returned later and had written a book about how Spider-Man “ruined her life.”
9) Jill Stacy
Jill Stacy was another romantic relationship that Peter Parker should have avoided. This is because Jill is the cousin of Peter’s first true love, Gwen Stacy, who died during a Spider-Man battle with Green Goblin. However, for some reason, Peter decided to date Jill anyway after believing that his wife, Mary Jane Watson, had died. Their relationship didn’t end in tragedy, but it was short, and Jill backed off when they realized Mary Jane was still alive.
8) Lian Tang
Lian Tang was Peter Parker’s girlfriend when he was running Parker Industries after regaining his body from Doctor Octopus. There was one major issue with this relationship, as Lian worked for Peter. He also never told her he was Spider-Man, putting her in a tough spot without even knowing it. Marvel eventually ended their relationship by having Lian try to kill Spider-Man when a criminal organization promised to help her cancer-ridden mother in exchange. Luckily, Peter was the bigger man, and he didn’t turn her in for the murder attempt and offered to help pay for her mother’s treatment. However, it ended their relationship.
7) Carol Danvers
Spider-Man dated a couple of major superheroes, including both Mockingbird and Carol Danvers. The big thing is that both relationships ended with the heroes on good terms. The bigger of the two was with Carol, which was a shocking turn of events since Peter was mostly dating over his head, but this was a huge leap for the Wall-Crawler. In Ms. Marvel #47, Peter Parker and Carol Danvers go on a date, and while it was interrupted by villains, it was a great date. Even later, in Siege, Carol was taken over by Venom, and when it released her, it revealed she still had feelings for Peter, which she said was complicated.
6) Betty Brant
A lot of people forget about Peter Parker and Betty Brant, but she was the first person to show a romantic interest in Peter in Marvel Comics. This was another problematic relationship since Betty worked as J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary and Peter was a high school student. It was Betty (and Aunt May) that Spider-Man had to rescue in the first Amazing Spider-Man Annual, and while Betty and Peter dated for a short time, they broke up shortly after her brother died, and she blamed Spider-Man. She even started dating Ned Leeds to make Peter jealous, and they ended up getting married.
