Thursday, July 21, 2011

'Amazing Spider-Man' Trailer: What We Know So Far

This weekend's "Captain America: The First Avenger" continues the charge of superhero supremacy at the box office this summer, and the grand tradition of Marvel heroes is sure to continue a year from now when "The Amazing Spider-Man" swings into action. The first "Spider-Man" trailer hit the Web earlier this week (through both official and leaked channels), gifting comic book fans with the great power and great responsibility of delivering their snap judgments on Sony's developing reboot — well ahead of its summer 2012 release. Of course, we're not immune to having our own reactions here at MTV News. To that end, we took a closer look at the new Spidey trailer and found quite a bit to pick apart. Even The Best Web-Heads Have Daddy Issues Most "Spider-Man" fans are familiar with Peter's relationship with Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker, but the newest film's first trailer puts a heavy emphasis on our hero's birth parents. Although this territory has been covered before in the comics, it's a story far less frequently told than Peter's struggles with Uncle Ben's death. But director Marc Webb has said before that "Amazing Spider-Man" will deal heavily with Peter's daddy issues, and judging by the trailer, he wasn't kidding. The Dark Spider If there's one thing to take away from the "Spider-Man" trailer, it's that this isn't Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire's web-slinger. In the hands of Webb and leading man Andrew Garfield, we're seeing a Spider-Man story that takes itself much more seriously than the whimsical nature of the Raimi and Maguire era. Whether you approve of the tonal change will vary based on personal taste, but there's certainly no arguing that this "Spider-Man" movie feels different than the last three, if nothing else. When Andrew Met Emma Another big change from the "Spider-Man" films of yesteryear is the removal of longtime love interest Mary-Jane Watson in favor of Gwen Stacy, played here by Emma Stone. Much of the trailer's focus is on the budding relationship between Andrew and Emma's characters, and already it feels as though they share more common ground with each other than Peter and MJ enjoyed in the first film's opening chapters. Back To Start One thing that isn't different from the previous Spider-flicks is that "Amazing" appears to be an origin story, just like the first Raimi-directed picture. It's a curious choice: The original "Spider-Man" movie swung into theaters in 2002, and only 10 years later we're seeing yet another re-telling of how Peter Parker got his radioactive spider-powers. There's already debate about whether another origin story was worth the narrative cost, but we'll reserve some judgment until we see the finished product — or, at least, another trailer. First-Person Heroics Speaking of other trailers, here's hoping that the second "Spider-Man" spot puts a heavier emphasis on action than this first one. We don't see Garfield in action albeit for a few shots two thirds of the way into the trailer, and even then, he's without mask or costume. The final portion of the trailer, clocking in at almost a minute, focuses entirely on Spidey swinging from rooftop to rooftop ... but all from the character's own perspective. Again, it's a curious choice to show the web-slinging action from Spidey's point of view rather than allowing the viewer to gaze upon the hero in all of his glory. It's bound to be a breathtaking sequence when the full movie hits theaters; as the capper for a first trailer, however, the "Spidey-cam" will likely turn some fans off. What do you think of the first "Amazing Spider-Man" trailer? Tell us in the comments! Check out everything we've got on "The Amazing Spider-Man." For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com. Andrew Garfield in "The Amazing Spider-Man" Photo: Columbia Pictures