The 'Amazing' Spider-Man

Yahoo Movies writes: The forthcoming 'Spider-Man' movie is to be named 'The Amazing Spider-Man' – the same name as the original series of comics featuring the super hero.

Filming is already underway on the eagerly awaited movie, but it's only now that Columbia Pictures have announced the movie’s title.

The reboot will be substantially different from the previous films. The appropriately named Marc Webb has taken over directing duties from Sam Raimi, who helmed the hugely successful trilogy, while Andrew Garfield is replacing Tobey Maguire for the role of the web-slinging superhero.

The new film intends to follow the original comics more closely, and evidence of this can be seen in the new picture below. Spider-Man clearly has buttons on his wrists to launch his famous web fluid – something missing from the last set of films.

In the comics, Peter Parker is a science nerd who inherits amazing agility and super-sense from a radioactive spider bite, then sets about building high-tech web-shooters for his wrists so he can swing and climb like a spider. In Sam Raimi’s movies, the spider bite gives him the power to organically squirt web fluid directly out of his wrists – something that caused great dismay among spider-fans as it downplayed the student Peter Parker’s scientific ability. To their relief, this rogue ability has been ditched for the new series of films.

It was actually ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron who came up with the controversial ‘biological’ web idea. Cameron wrote a lengthy treatment for a Spider-Man movie in the 1990s, but the movie never got made. While most of Cameron’s story idea was jettisoned when Sam Raimi took over the project, his plan to axe the traditional mechanical web-shooters made it through.

Sam Raimi’s movies also saw Peter Parker leave high school quickly, but Marc Webb is following the comics closely here too and keeping him firmly in class. For years, the comic book focused on Parker struggling with the twin problems of a typical adolescent schoolboy and a super hero battling adult super villains.

Another difference will be the love interest in the movie. Instead of Mary Jane, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' will feature Gwen Stacey as Parker's first major girlfriend – another clue that the film is remaining true to Stan Lee’s original comic book's history.

Shot in 3D, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' will be released next summer