Thus far, Beenox has proven their love of working on the Spider-Man franchise between Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Between the alternate versions of Spider-Man and the original takes on some of his villains, Beenox has shown a deep understanding and respect for the character. Now, they face a new challenge with the tie-in to the Amazing Spider-Man movie. While some major points of their story are often dictated by the events of the movie, Beenox has chosen to open the world up to players much like the previous developer Treyarch had done but has taken steps to improve on their much beloved formula.

In previous titles when a player shot their web, players were forced to let the game instinctually choose an appropriate target for them to sling off of. This was also the case in combat where the foe most often closely centered in the screen became the default target for Spidey to aim at. Now, Beenox has decided to give this control to the player instead with the feature they call the Web Rush for the Amazing Spider-Man game.

Using the Web Rush, time slows down for players, presumably to represent Spider-Man’s hyper-fast reflexes like it was seen in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man film where Peter Parker dodged the bullying of Flash Thompson. During this slow down, players are given all possible targets on screen where they can aim themselves. This can be a great resource for strategically setting themselves into different combat situations.

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When Activision and Beenox announced the Rhino would be one of Spider-Man’s foes in The Amazing Spider-Man, it didn’t really shock or surprise anyone. It was almost a no brainer. The Rhino has been around since Spider-Man’s earliest days and has appeared in thirteen separate Spider-Man games. The Iguana on the other hand. That choice is a whole other story.

The Iguana is at best a footnote in the Spider-Man lore. Only ever appearing in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #32 back in July of 1979, the Iguana was an experiment gone wrong by Doctor Curt Connors (a.k.a. The Lizard and the main antagonist of the upcoming summer blockbuster film which this game ties in to). The Iguana would only make a singular appearance in comics before returning to his original, non-super powered iguana form.

Though incredibly obscure, the character choice does actually make sense. There are few, if any, characters with a more direct tie to the Lizard in Spider-Man’s rogue gallery. Instead of shoehorning in other purely “evil” villains, the concept behind the Iguana is one that makes sense for him to be intertwined in the events of the movie game.

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One thing Spider-Man has always had going for him is an iconic rogues gallery rivaled only by that of DC Comic’s Batman. Though some started out with simple or silly premises like an evil doctor with extra appendages or an old bald man who liked to fly around town, years of phenomenal writers have given these characters unexpected levels of depth and personality. One such character is the Rhino. One such character is The Rhino.

Starting off as a common thug, the Rhino, especially in recent years, has become an incredibly interesting character. Having tried to rid his life of his crime ridden past, Aleksei Sytsevich was pulled back in unexpectedly after the tragic death of his wife Oksana was killed during the recent “Gauntlet” story arc by a new criminal trying to don the mantle of the Rhino. Most recently, the Rhino was found as a part of Doctor Octopus’s latest incarnation of the Sinister Six.

It looks like now Rhino will be making his way to the Spider-Man video game based on the newly relaunched Amazing Spider-Man movie franchise. Unrestricted because of the comic’s longstanding continuity, the team at Beenox was able to create their own mythos behind Aleksei and how he came into this Spider-Man’s world.

Check out the reveal trailer full bio, interview about this new Rhino and screen shots after the break for the Rhino coming to the Amazing Spider-Man for XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Any serious toy collector knows that it’s not Toys R Us that has the top quality new toys you need to display on your shelf. It’s the low production run collectibles that are sold at the comic book retailers that come from Diamond Select that you need to watch out for and snatch up the section they hit the rack. This past week at Toy Fair, Diamond revealed their upcoming slate of Marvel licensed products. This year’s line focuses on the Avengers movie, the Amazing Spider-Man film and a new lineup of Minimates.

Both the Avengers movie versions of the Hulk and Hawkeye are getting their first Marvel Direct treatment since the Hulk model will be updated from previous films and Hawkeye never his from his brief cameo in Thor.

In addition, the Amazing Spider-Man will be getting figures and busts made in the likeness of bother Spider-Man and the Lizard. These are the first images allowing people a true full unshadowed view of the Lizard who was disguised by shadow and fleeting high speed motion in the recent trailer.

Though Spider-Man purists may be able to get past the redesign of the Spider-Man costume, it is going to be a challenge for some to get over the look of the Lizard who somewhat resembles the look of the Goombas from the early 90s Super Mario Bros feature film. The duo will also be getting a Minimate treatment as well.

The Minimate line will also be giving other characters the treatment for the first time with new Minimates such as the new Ultimate Spider-Man and Dazzler. Take a look at the full gallery below and make sure to let us know what you think about all the upcoming Marvel characters from Diamond Select.

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Normally a video game tie-in to a feature film is horrible. It is rare that one of these games is even half decent, and you can probably count on one hand how many of these games have been legitimately good. So a fair amount of skepticism will always follow the announcement of a new tie-in game, and no doubt The Amazing Spider-Man will face the same.

Funny thing about that though, now that we know some information about this game it actually sounds pretty good. Activision has just released the first details about The Amazing Spider-Man in advance of it’s trailer world premiere at this week’s VGAs. Smartly the game is set up as an epilogue to the events in the film, with an all new story set around the characters we will be introduced to in the film. The game is also being developed by Beenox, the guys who gave us the great Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and the OK Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

“The Amazing Spider-Man is in development at veteran game studio Beenox, and features an original narrative crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) that continues young Peter Parker’s adventures following the events of the new film.”

More details after the jump.

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That’s right comic book fans, it’s that time of the week again. New comics are coming out from our friends at Marvel tomorrow and, as always, we’ve got some we’re really interested in reading.

Among the new ones coming out, we’re looking forward to reading FF #3, New Avengers #12,  PunisherMax #13, Daredevil: Reborn #4, and X-Men #11.

As with most weeks, new comics arrive on Wednesday, so hit your nearest comics book store early for best selection.

Don’t know where your nearest comic store is? Use this handy guide to find one.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #660
ASTONISHING X-MEN #7
BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR #518
CABLE & DEADPOOL MGC #1
DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #9
DAREDEVIL: REBORN #4
EMMA #3
FANTASTIC FOUR MGC #570
FEAR ITSELF: YOUTH IN REVOLT #1 (FI)
FF #3
FF #3 DJURDJEVIC CHARACTER VARIANT
FF #3 X-MEN EVOLUTIONS ZIRCHER VARIANT
FORMIC WARS: BURNING EARTH #5

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Want to jump back into your favorite comic books to check in with some of your favorite superheroes and superheroines, but unable to pick up the pieces in the middle of a heavy storyline? Marvel has you covered by introducing the Point One program. Here’s the skinny.

The Point One program offers readers the perfect starting point for new storylines spinning out of the new year. Self-contained and featuring some of Marvel’s greatest talent and characters, these Point One books will lay the groundwork for a whole year’s worth of storytelling.

For years, this is the one problem that the comic book industry has dealt with. Now, fans can start fresh and continue getting weekly comics courtesy of Marvel without feeling like there are tons of back issues and trades that they have to read.

Starting in February, the publisher will be rolling out this new program on some of their mainstream titles, and eventually roll them out to all big books by May. Take a look at the complete list of effected books after the jump, and start picking up these new books this February.

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Back in 1982, a movie called TRON about a programmer that is thrown into his own video game universe took the nerd world by storm. For decades, guys and girls alike were hot gluing LED ropes to black leggings so that they can look like their favorite science fiction hero. Now, those fans are getting the opportunity to live it all over again as TRON: Legacy hits theaters this December.

With that amount of fan hype involved, it’s almost understandable that a publishing company as big as Marvel would want to jump on into pimping the film with some awesome crosspromotion. Not to mention the fact that Disney and Marvel are one in the same now.

Starting next month, 10 different popular titles will get special TRON-ized variant covers by artists like Mark Brooks (Avengers: The Initiative) and Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men).

The books you need to look for are as follows:

Amazing Spider-Man #651, Avengers #7, Avengers Academy #7, Captain America #612, Incredible Hulks #618, Invincible Iron Man #33, New Avengers #7, Secret Avengers #7, Thor #617, and Wolverine #4.

Before they even hit shelves next month, be sure to check out each of these variant covers after the jump, and get your TRON on December 17th!

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After the kid focused Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and the somewhat redundant nature of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Spidey fans have been clamoring for a change in the Spider-Man formula. Since Spider-Man 2, most titles have revolved around a sandbox view of Manhattan where everyone’s favorite webslinger traverses back and forth in the city, sometimes racing against time, to match up against his more fearsome foes and crossing paths with various small time criminals committing minor offenses along the way.

While it has proven a successful formula, it had started to grow stagnant. Influenced by that criticism, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions puts together four versions of the Marvel icon, including two who have never been seen in video game form, in a variety of diverse levels and constantly changing gameplay.

Gameplay:

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions plays differently than most previous Spider-Man titles, and not just because of the change away from open world environments. While button mashing combined with Spider-Sense dodging is the focus of combat, traversing through the levels seemed looser in terms of control.

Slinging through levels doesn’t feel as natural or fun as it did in Manhattan in days of Spider-Man’s past. Possibly because of the level design system, less emphasis was put on traversing areas at fast speeds.

Combat also doesn’t feel as diverse. Because each Spider-Man only has three individual levels, there is not a huge diversity in combat abilities. Previous titles, because of only having one or two versions of Spider-Man, had a larger number of different attacks to work with.

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With just under a week from the release of the most hyped Spider-Man video game release in years, Activision and Beenox have unveiled the final launch trailer for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.  In it, a majority of the game’s villains are spotlighted as well as the voice actors of all four versions of everyone’s favorite web crawler after the jump.

As we are sure you have seen, we’ve kept a close watch on the upcoming title. We have brought you video of the alternate unlockcable attire, interviews with developers,  and even hands on feedback from our time with the game at San Diego Comic-Con.

But we’re not done yet. Be sure to check back for our review of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions following the game’s September 7th release date. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will be coming out for PlayStation 3, XBox 360, PC and the Nintendo Wii.

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Recently following our developer interview, we revealed all of the alternate costumes for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Two of the most intriguing reveals for the alternate costumes include the Scarlet Spider and the Negative Zone Spider-Man.

The Scarlet Spider was the center of the infamous Clone Saga of the 90s that some people view as one of the most confusing times in Spider-Man’s history. Yet, years later, the Scarlet Spider is still revisited through flashbacks, reboots, toys and now video games. The Scarlet Spider will be the unlockable skin in the Amazing Dimension.

A more obscure costume comes from Spider-Man’s Negative Zone attire. Appearing in the adjectiveless Spider-Man title in issue #90, while trapped in the Negative Zone, Peter was lent the Darkforce powers by a hero named S.H.O.C. which altered his costume. Haven’t heard of this story ever? There’s probably a reason for that. Regardless, this incredibly dark (and we do mean dark, it is almost entirely black) costume is a perfect fit visually for the Noir world of Spider-Man which is devoid of any color in it.

Make sure to check out the two vignettes after the jump of these two costumes in motion and stick to the Flickcast for all things Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as it approaches its September 7th release date.

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On Marvel.com, Activision has revealed all of the unlockable skins for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. By playing through the game, players will have the opportunity to unlock new looks for their favorite wall crawler across the four dimensions of gameplay. Make sure to check out the gallery at the bottom of this post for screen shots of all the new costumes.

At Comic Con, we had the opportunity to sit down with Studio Head over at Beenox, the developers behind Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Dee Brown. In our short time with Dee, he discussed with us the choices behind dimensions of the game.

He also mentions creating new villains for the game as well as the hype that has been coming out leading to the game’s release.

The Flickcast: First question I have, what was the thought process behind the four dimensions Beenox picked?

Dee Brown: Well, what we do when we start a project, we did what we always do when we start a project, a deep dive into the brand and we dug up a lot of the comic stuff of Spider-Man, and we did this big presentation to the team and the entire company.

Everybody loves Spider-Man of course, but nobody knows all the different universes and everything, so we did this presentation and showed shots of 2099 and Noir and all the amazing universes. People, like me for example, I didn’t know about Noir and when I saw it I thought “That’s amazing, that’s so great.”

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