Spider-Man and the X-Men have long been friends, but come December, Peter Parker will become an official member of the X-Men family when he takes on the role of special guidance counselor at the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning in Spider-Man & The X-Men #1.

No, Spider-Man isn't becoming a mutant. He's just helping out, and it has something to do with Wolverine, says writer Elliott Kalan.

"Before Wolverine died, he had a suspicion that something was amiss at the school and that one of the students wasn't what they seemed," Kalan tells Marvel.com. "Only he didn't know which student. It's Spidey's job to find the truth - though he can't help but hope to also have a positive influence on the lives of the students."

You can bet things won't be going 100 percent smoothly. Kalan says even though Spider-Man is a friend, he's not a mutant, and that leads to tensions not only between Spider-Man and students at the school but between Peter and the other teachers as well.

"Spider-Man and the X-Men have been interacting and sharing the Marvel U for 50 years, but they still feel like they inhabit different planets sometimes," Kalan says. "Part of the fun of this for me is throwing Spider-Man into X-Men scenarios and having the X-Men deal with Spider-Man villains."

The series will also feature a prehistoric villain team-up between Sauron and Stegron the Dinosaur Man, because dinosaurs instantly make any story better.

Kalan and arist Marco Failla will be bringing the web-slinger's latest adventure to a comic book store near you Dec. 10.

Photos: Marvel Comics