Half man, half arachnid, the character has been around as a Marvel Comics superhero since 1963. And from 2002 to 2007 he was played in a trio of blockbusters by Tobey Maguire. The latest actor to have slipped into the tight-fitting red and blue costume is Andrew Garfield, and you can inspect the evidence in this freshly released trailer.

The Amazing Spider-Man comes along as a replacement for the aborted Spider-Man 4 (while the Broadway stage version directed by Julie The Lion King [1] Taymor with music by Bono and The Edge somehow continues to defy commercial gravity). Directed by Marc Webb, whose only previous film is the more lo-fi teen romance (500) Days of Summer [2], The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and Martin Sheen.

It’s been a big week for Garfield. Making his Broadway debut, he has just been nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Biff Loman opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman [3] in Death of a Salesman. The Amazing Spider-Man marks his arrival as a lead actor in film. Raised in Essex but with an American father, Garfield’s career has straddled the Atlantic with more facility than those of most British thesps. He had his first break as part of an ensemble at the National Theatre in a trilogy of plays which also kicked off the careers of Andrea Riseboroug [4]h and Matt Smith [5]. His film career has been partly an American affair. His lead roles in this country include Boy A and Never Let Me Go [6], and in America he was quietly outstanding in The Social Network [7]. The Amazing Spider-Man opens on 4 July. A sequel is due in 2014.

Watch the trailer to The Amazing Spider-Man