It’s not Marvel toy news and I’m no movie critic (I leave that to the experts over at Now Playing podcast), but a couple people wanted to know my thoughts on the first full-length the Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer that was released yesterday. There will be loads of Amazing Spider-Man 2 toys to talk about next year, so I’m going to squeeze this into the “related content” category and give my quick initial impressions of the 2014 Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie trailer…

The Rhino: When I first saw the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Rhino design unveiled on that movie banner that was put up in Las Vegas, my optimism for the movie shattered. But after having seen a couple split-seconds of the Rhino in the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie trailer, I’m totally on-board (yeah, I know–I’m hard to win over). I see this modern take on the Rhino in a mech suit as being Sony’s answer to the Iron Man 3 Igor armor. The mecha Rhino isn’t what I was expecting, but I think I can accept it more readily in the movie-verse than I can a guy running around in a Rhino-hide outfit.

Harry Osborn: UGH. It’s hyper-emo Harry Osborn! Every iteration of Harry Osborn over the years has been one of my favorite characters in that Spider-Man media, from the comics to the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy to the awesome “Spectacular Spider-Man” cartoon. Dane DeHaan may be a fine young actor, but the little I’ve seen of his creepy Harry Osborn thus far leaves me cold. If he ends up being a New Goblin-esque rehash of the Green Goblin (and it certainly looks like he will), this may be my least-favorite take on Harry Osborn ever.

Electro: It’s very difficult to judge Electro based on his appearance in the trailer, as we don’t get anything overtly stated as to the character’s back-story or motivations. What I can judge is that godawful CGI in the trailer, though. Sony has four more months to fix the CGI in post-production–if these graphics are the best they could cobble together for Electro, then they shouldn’t have even bothered doing him.

Doctor Octopus and The Vulture: Since we’re building toward The SinisterSix in a future Amazing Spider-Man movie, seeing The Vulture’s wings (flight harness) and Doctor Octopus’ tentacles here are a nice bit of foreshadowing. It’d be nice if we meet the people who will ultimately don these identities during this film, but no biggie if not.

On Three Villains in One Movie: There’s lots of doom and gloom and nay-saying about on the Internet about there being three villains in the same Amazing Spider-Man 2 film, but depending on how this is handled, I think it can really be okay. Assuming that Rhino is played as a minor threat, I think having Spidey take down the mecha Rhino in a short fight could be far more fun and interesting than just having Spider-Man fight some thugs for the umpteenth time.

There’s no way of telling how much of the Green Goblin will actually be in this movie, either–assuming we see the Green Goblin in moderation as an evil overlord-type character that has an impact but a minimum of screen-time, having the Green Goblin in this movie could be a great start to building anticipation for his having an increased role in Amazing Spider-Man 3.

Overall: Many people are getting “Batman and Robin” vibes from this latest the Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, but I’m not ready to panic just yet. It’s bad writing that makes bad movies–not just having more than one or two villains. If we’re going to have the Sinister Six one or two movies down the line, multiple character introductions in one movie is what has to happen–it’s just a matter of doing it well.

Honestly, I’m feeling much more positive than I was about the movie before seeing the trailer. The Rhino robot suit could be very cool in action, and Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone look to have improved performances this time around. Sony desperately needs to clean up the CGI for the film, but if there’s a well-planned balance in screen-time for the characters, I still think this can be a surprisingly good Spider-Man movie (and at least not the abomination that the Raimi Spider-Man 3 film was).

What are your thoughts on the first Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, Marvel fans? Does this movie look over-bloated with villains, or are you still harboring optimism about next year’s (possible) blockbuster Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie?