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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Last night during the season premiere of America’s Got Talent, all five of the NBC viewers were treated to an extended ‘super’ preview of The Amazing Spider-Man. Basically it super-sized the most recent trailer with an extended scene, some dubstep-ish cues and a couple of choice new shots.

The movie is in an odd place for the general public. We are not that far removed from the Raimi series, and despite the vocal internet backlash to the third film, it was a success. So Sony has to win over a skeptical public on top of the already difficult task of competing with this summer’s other two comic book goliaths.

To Sony’s credit this extended trailer marks the most interesting and inciting glimpse at their reboot. It showcases one of the most important aspects of Peter Parker that was almost missed completely in the Raimi films, the personality of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is a wise-cracking, naive, and most importantly noble hero. There is a duality to Peter that is much more subtle than in a character like Batman, but is no less important. If the Marc Webb reboot can tap into that, we can all be in for a very pleasant surprise this summer.

Check out the full trailer after the jump.

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With Marvel’s The Avengers coming out tonight at midnight there’s another movie (from a different studio) that wants to make sure we know it’s coming out soon too. That movie is, of course, the re-imagining of the reboot of Spider-Man known as The Amazing Spider-Man.

Much like the posters that came out a few days ago, this trailer isn’t really all that special. Believe us, we wish it was. It just looks like more of the same thing we’ve seen before in the previous Spider-Man movies that were not really all that long ago.

On a positive note, we prefer Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy to what’s her names previous tern as Mary Jane. That much is certain. We’re less enthusiastic about Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, however.

Oh well. It probably won’t stop the movie from making a boatload of money, which is fine.

Click through to look at the trailer. The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters this Summer.

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One of the biggest enigmas in the crowded summer blockbuster season is how will the average movie goers take a rebooted Spider-Man so close to the success of the Raimi trilogy. How the reboot is received is going to be an important indicator for the longevity of the comic book movie as we know it.

In the last decade comic book films have rewritten a lot of the rules for how major franchise movies act in cinemas, pretty much demolishing the previous axiom that sequels suffer from standard diminishing returns. Now the success of an event film has much more to do with the reception of the previous film in the series and over all franchise health.

This summer brings two old comic book standards to the big screen, the team-up and the reboot. If these are successful it could signal to other studios that movie going public is keen on these characters, and will show up for a good film starring them even if the story is going back to the beginning.

So a lot is at stake, and as such the marketing push for The Amazing Spider-Man has been going strong for awhile now, keeping ole web head in our minds during the spring and early summer event film season. The newest bit of advertising is a brand new poster featuring some battle damaged Spidy. A really great, simple image that is reminiscent of the Raimi era character posters, while still feeling very much a part of the new tone for the series.

You can check out the full poster after the jump.

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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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Since most of the major Marvel Universe players have found their way already into the Minimates line, ArtAsylum is now able to give some spotlight to some of the heroes, villains and storylines from the past. This time in the 43rd wave of the Minimates line, which also marks the ten year anniversary of the product, the Marvel Minimates will focus on the “Death of Jean Dewolff” storyline.

Back in the mid 80′s when comics were beginning to mature in both artistic merit and story themes, editor on the Spectacular Spider-Man Jim Owsley gave writer Peter David the task of knocking off detective Jean DeWolff. The character of Sin-Eater was created as a way to kill DeWolff. Interestingly enough, the biggest impact of this story is the indirect creation of Venom as Eddie Brock claimed to have found out who the real Sin Eater was, only to be disproven by Spider-Man catching the real killer and costing Brock his job.

You can check out Art Asylum’s interview with creator Peter David here on their site and check out the full gallery of the collection after the jump.

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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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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance co-director Brian Taylor is set to write and direct a live action adaptation of the iconic video game Twisted Metal. Sony Pictures has offered Taylor a 7-figure deal to head up the film.

Like the game, the film will revolve around an underground event that pits a number of combatants in a fight to the death. They are outfitted in armored weaponized cars that are pimped out with heavy weaponry that includes missiles and machine guns. Each character is set to have their own specialty weapons and style similar to the game. The sole survivor will get any wish granted.

It is rumored that the film will include such signature contestant characters as Sweet Tooth, a homicidal clown who drives an ice cream truck, and Doll Face, a young woman who is trapped behind a porcelain mask and who drives an 18-wheeler.

This is the first project that Taylor will helm solo. He has always teamed with Mark Neveldine on such films as the Crank series. There have been two so far, and they are talking about making a third, in 3D, as well as a possible future Ghost Rider. The team will continue to write and direct films together.

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If you weren’t able to get out to a theater yesterday or don’t live in one of the cities where this new footage of The Amazing Spider-Man had a sneak peek, don’t worry. We’ve got the footage, in the form of a new trailer, for you right here.

In it we get a lot more of the story of the film including what appears to be the main plot of Spider-Man fighting the lizard. We also get appearances by pretty much all the major characters including Gwen Stacy, Dr. Curt Connors, The Lizard, Uncle Ben, Aunt May and, of course, Peter Parker/Spider-Man himself.

Check out the trailer after the break. The Amazing Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb and featuring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary and Rhys Ifans arrives on July 3.

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The upcoming reboot if the Spider-Man franchise has a larger air of mystery then usual for a tent poll comic book film. This comes from the fact that just a couple years ago the franchise was alive and relativity healthy, but Sony went directly for a reboot instead of riding the Raimi series to an unfortunate end.

Sony recently released the official synopsis for the film which confirms what a lot of people inferred from the trailers and production stories.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets.

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Disney XD will premiere its new animated series Ultimate Spider-Man on Sunday, April 1 as part of its new Marvel Universe line. The show was developed by Marvel Head of Television Jeph Loeb, Marvel CCO Joe Quesada, Paul Dini (“Batman: The Animated Series”), Man of Action Studios, and long-time Ultimate Spider-man scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

Ultimate Spider-Man stars Drake Bell (“Drake and Josh”) as a teenage Peter Parker trying to fit in at high school while secretly working with other heroes at S.H.I.E.L.D. Fans of Marvel’s film canon will recognize the voices of JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson.

Enjoying success with Marvel Animation’s Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Disney XD is planning on launching an entire Marvel Universe programming block with Ultimate Spider-Man as its keystone.

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