Three Things You Need to Know about ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

 If you're one of the countless legions of Spider-Man fans who is making plans to hit up a theatre near you today or sometime this week to take in "The Amazing Spider-Man," here are a couple of things you need to know about the movie's plot before sliding into your chair with a tub of popcorn and some Milk Duds:

1. It's a reboot. This time Peter Parker is played by Andrew Garfield, who you last saw as the best friend Mark Zuckerberg dissed in "The Social Network".

2. One difference this time around is Peter's back-story. In the other movies and the comics, he was raised by his aunt and uncle because his parents died. And the bite that turns him into Spider-Man was just a random accident. The hidden truth about his dad's genetic research is what drives the story here, and Peter was supposedly "abandoned" in this one, not orphaned.

3. There's no Mary Jane Watson. In this version, a much younger Spider-Man hooks up with Gwen Stacy, who comic fans know as Peter's earliest love interest. She's played by Emma Stone.