"I think what Sam and Tobey did was really extraordinary and was really loyal to the early comics in an aesthetic way. So it was very important for me early on to get Sam's and Tobey's blessing," said Webb, who previously directed the acclaimed romantic dramedy "(500) Days of Summer." "I've seen Tobey fairly regularly and he's been nothing but supportive, and Sam's been supportive, too."

Webb said the freeing aspect of taking the director's reigns after Raimi is that there's a wealth of "Spider-Man" stories to tell -- some of which that have been told from different points of view.

"Sam was just finished telling his root of the story, and this was my chance to give a different interpretation of the character," Webb said. "There are 50 years worth of Spider-Man comics, and it's not a closed canon like the seven Harry Potter books. With all the material, there are different illustrators, writers and artists that invented and reinvented the story. I started from a different root than Sam did, but I have a great respect and admiration for his films."

Without question, Webb's darker tone separates "The Amazing Spider-Man" from Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, but the film still has its share of funny moments. In fact, Webb's creative use of Peter's web shooting -- which are created through a wrist-device this time instead of organically, like the original 'Spider-Man' movie trilogy -- supplies some of the most humorous moments.

"Peter Parker's a trickster, funny and whimsical, especially during a car thief scene in the movie where he's using the webs in new, interesting ways. It all has to do with the way he messes around with his prey, like a cat playing with its food," Webb enthused. "I was always looking for ways to reinvent little nuances with Spider-Man's abilities. There are things in the comics that are really great fun, and again, was just an example of how much material there was to choose from."

Definitely new for moviegoers material-wise in "The Amazing Spider-Man" was the full realization of the alter-ego of Connors, an incidental, supporting character in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3" played by Dylan Baker.

Ifans' version of the one-armed geneticist, we come to discover, isn't entirely an evil character: it's his amphibious, mutated alter-ego who wreaks all the havoc.

"I think that it's really important all characters, whether they're a villain or a hero, that they're honoring some sort of truth to themselves, and they want us to understand why they're doing what they're doing," explained Webb, who grew up in Madison, Wis. "Villains rarely think of themselves as villains -- convincing villains, anyway."

"If you look at Michael Mann's movie 'Heat,' you have great empathy for both those adversaries, and you understand very clearly why they want to stop each other or why they're at odds with each other," Webb added. "There have competing ideas of what people think is good."

The interesting dynamic within "The Amazing Spider-Man" is how Peter finds himself the middle of the conflict without a clear-cut definition of who he is or what he stands for. Instead of a straight-up good versus evil storyline, the film finds Spider-Man, at least in Capt. Stacy's perception, to just as much a menace to society as the real bad guys.