While you were asleep last night, Sony went into tooth fairy mode and snuck a little surprise under your pillow: a new trailer for the upcoming Amazing Spider-man. Have a look-see.

At first glance, the trailer appears to be darker than any of the three previous films. From what I can glean from this two-and-a-half-minute spot, it seems the movie’s writers are borrowing from the Carnage story arch from Brian Michael Bendis’ work on Ultimate Spider-Man, though with the clever villain switcheroo of Lizard for Carnage. I always cringe when these comic book movies cram in too many villains into one movie, so I’m going to vote in favor of this consolidation. It’s also a little weird to see Denis Leary as the rigid Captain Stacy, but Leary plays disgruntled pretty well so it sorta works.

I know, I know – some of you might be groaning about the cinema reboot to this series when the Spider-man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire just ended in 2007. Still, something never sat right with Maguire and his canned performance as an awkward Peter Parker; I felt that his affect was often flat and his interpretation as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man was contrived. He just wasn’t the jocular web-slinger I hear in my head whenever I read these comics both as a kid and as an adult (nerd habits die hard, people). Andrew Garfield, on the other hand, seems more able at pulling off Parker/Spider-man convincingly.

/end fanboy rant.

If you’re the movie-going type, you’re likely to see the big screen version of this trailer since it’s set to debut in theaters this weekend. So, having said all that, what did you think? How do you think it compares to the previous Spider-man movies? Comment and discuss below. Excelsior!