Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten Spider-Man! I know the new movie is the best thing since sliced bread but I wanted to wait until I saw it before I made any comments. Okay, I saw it. Here’s what I noticed.

First off, they have a terrific new guy playing Spider-Man this time. He’s this young up-and-coming actor named James Dean. His intense presence and good looks (not to mention great Twilight hair!) are sure to make this brooding performance stand out at Oscar time. I think we’ll be hearing lots more about young Mr. Dean in years to come.

Also, there’s a new Aunt May. This time she’s youthful and feisty – like a grown-up Gidget – rather than old and frail like she was in the comics. And Uncle Ben has been recast as a fun-loving, Charlie Sheen type, rather than the grouchy father figure we remember.

Don’t expect to hear that cliché about great power and great responsibility – it’s not in this movie! What we have here is a fresh, new look at Spider-Man with none of those tired old scenes we’ve seen before. This time it’s not Gwen Stacy who dies but… nah, I won’t spoil it for you. Suffice it to say that if you’ve been reading Spider-Man since the beginning as I have, this will all be new to you.

Basically, they have taken the events from Amazing Spider-Man #6 and King-Size Special #4 and combined them, to create a new story with a brand new Peter Parker.

Instead of a bookish nerd who spends all his time slaving over a hot Bunsen burner, Peter is an athletic skateboarder (with great hair!) who’s dating the hottest girl in school.

Although he gets pushed around a little by Flash Thompson, Peter turns out to be the best basketball player in history and isn’t afraid to show it!

Instead of wearing glasses until his newfound spider powers make them unnecessary, Peter wears contacts until he decides to wear an old pair of glasses just to look cool. Take that, Ned Leeds!

In short, The Amazing Spider-Man (in theaters now!) has been updated to appeal to today’s audiences, with none of that emotional baggage that made the character so unpopular for the past 49 years. We haven’t seen this character change so much since Sturdy Steve Ditko turned over the reins to Jazzy Johnny Romita.

To commemorate this reimagining of Spider-Man (with great hair!), we present this reinvented version of the Spider-Man theme song, by the Astroglides!

Click the link below to listen.

Spiderman - Astroglides