Since the release of the first Spider-Man movie videogame by Activision in 2002, it's been tradition for the Webslinger's tie-in titles (and most other superhero movie games for that matter) to import not-necessarily-in-continuity characters. As revealed by IGN, The Amazing Spider-Man game is no exception, and will include a battle with a redesigned Rhino that balances elements from his current comic book look and the mutant aesthetic evoked by Rhys Ifans' snoutless Lizard. Unlike his comics counterpart, this version of Aleksei M. Sytsevich gets transformed into the Rhino after an evil Oscorp executive forces employee Dr. Michael Morbius to abuse Dr. Curt Connor's Lizard research to jack him up using rhinoceros DNA as part of a deal with some black market investors. Naturally, he becomes a dimwitted beast of a dude that Spidey has to take down as part of the game's movie epilogue storyline.

IGN's introduction to its interview with Stephane Gravel of Beenox and Chris Baker of Marvel yields the interesting insight that there could be even more human/animal hybrids in the game as well. The interview doesn't, however, explain why Spider-Man has pouches on his costume. I kind of dig them, though, especially if they're part of the game's storyline.

Knowing that Morbius is in the game is a pretty fun teaser. Whether he'll be transformed into "The Living Vampire" in this game is still up in the air, but I suspect Beenox will fill fans in before The Amazing Spider-Man game drops on pretty much all current generation consoles July 3.

Watch IGN's Rhino preview video and screen shots below:



[Click Images to Enlarge]


[Via IGN]