Sony's Spider-Man franchise reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, is the next big superhero movie on the horizon - and in wake of the record-shattering earnings of The Avengers, it has a lot to prove if it wants to both reverse negative opinion that this do-over is coming too soon, and walk away with a hefty amount of change in pocket.

Luckily for Amazing Spider-Man, the most recent trailer and the viral marketing materials promoting the film have managed to impress some skeptics, while simultaneously re-igniting the base of longtime Spider-Man fans who have expressed excitement over director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield seemingly creating an onscreen vision of the Web-slinger that is closer to the source comics than Sam Raimi's trilogy of films from the early 2000s.

As you can see from the extended preview above, Amazing Spider-Man goes deeper into the story of Peter Parker and why he was orphaned by his parents, Richard and Mary Parker, which left him with his Aunty May (Sally Fields) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen), whose values and sacrifices led him down the path to becoming a hero. The film will also borrow narrative elements from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book continuity - namely, the backstory of the Parker parents and the positioning of Oscorp (the company owned by classic Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn), as a shadowy corporation that has direct ties to Peter Parker's past, and dire implications for Spider-Man's future.

The Amazing Spider-Man 4-minute extended preview

The biggest thing to note, however, is the tone and composition of the film. From the action scenes of Spider-Man in combat, to that the scene of the bridge rescue with the kid in the car, the footage manages to showcase a version of Peter Parker / Spider-Man that is both familiar and fresh.

The Parker wit and smarts are there, the Spider-Man body language, poses, fight tactics, mechanical web-shooters and trash-talk are there; but the Spider-Man costume is new (shoe soles and all), and the Peter Parker hip/edgy dress and attitude are more in tune with the modern version of a teenage geek - as exists in an era where "geek is the new chic," (as some youngster's pastel tee-shirt recently informed me).

The question is: will the retooled Spidey win over both the casual and hardcore fans?

In addition to the new extended preview, several items for the Amazing Spider-Man viral campaign were recently revealed, including a few video messages from the faux blog of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans):

The Amazing Spider-Man will be in 3D theaters on July 3, 2012

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