When it was announced that Sony was going forward with a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise so soon after director Sam Raimi placed his mark on Peter Parker, many eyebrows were raised at the timing. After all, Spider-Man 3 came out in 2007, a mere four summers ago -- it's not like people are clamoring for reboots of other 2007 blockbusters like Ocean's 13 or Live Free or Die Hard. (Or maybe they are?) Regardless, we're here now, and The Amazing Spider-Man is scheduled to hit theaters next summer. Does the new teaser offer anything that Raimi's Spider-Man films did not?
Kinda? Campbell Scott as Peter Parker's leaving father is a new touch, and replacing Mary Jane with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is nice, but the rest of the two-minute teaser for director Marc Webb's Spidey incarnation plays things relatively origin-y. It looks cool, no doubt -- that final, first-person rooftop jaunt will play particular badass in 3-D -- it just looks awfully familiar. Following a summer of origin stories -- Thor, X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern and the coming Captain America: First Avenger -- will audiences tire of the tropes when Andrew Garfield goes through them next July?
VERDICT: With great power comes great responsibility.