(Bill O’Leary / The Washington Post)

You might have to put that RBG T-shirt on rotation — there’s a new Supreme Court justice angling for pop-culture-fave status.

In a decision in a patent-rights case issued on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan slipped in a few references that appeal (yeah, we did that) to the kids, a rarity from a body that’s known more for throwing around Latin phrases than contemporary quotes. In place of the usual dusty-law-book source, Kagan turned to no less a font of wisdom than the Spider-man canon for guidance, dropping iconic lines like “with great power there must also come — great responsibility.”

Her point there, which was basically that the court has to be really careful when it deviates from its normal practice of sticking with its own precedents, could have been made without a reference to Spidey —though it was apropos because the case centered on the rights of an inventor of a Spider-man toy.

And the choice could launch her into territory heretofore only occupied by her colleague Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a.k.a Notorious RBG, the justice whose image has been tattooed onto hipsters’ arms and has graced many an ironic tee. The name-checking might have won Kagan a few new fans of her own. “Definite nerd points to Justice Kagan for a very fitting use of Spider-man’s mantra,” said Nick Liappis, a manager at the U Street location of Big Planet Comics. “I think it’s great that even someone as revered as a Supreme Court justice can find the time for a witty pop culture reference like this. It’s very refreshing.”

Kagan isn’t posing here, either: she’s apparently a fan of comic books and their spinoff action movies, and her favorite movie is reportedly “The Avengers.”