It took a lot to diminish my interest in another Spider-Man movie, but they managed to do it with #3. Still feels too soon for a reboot, no? Isn't it like someone deciding the time is perfect for a new, modern retake on the Battlestar Galactica reboot? Can't someone come up with something original, i.e., a plain old ordinary boot?

Here's what may annoy Spidey purists:

Okay. Here's the deal. Mary Jane was the third girlfriend. The first was Betty Brant, who also worked at the Bugle. She was something of a wet blanket in the original comics, always weepy about something, but as played by Elizabeth Banks in the movies she was something quite different, and much more interesting than mopey Mary Jane.

She was not a love interest, alas. Probably just as well, because there was something about her that suggested she would snap Tobey Maguire in half.

The next girlfriend was Gwen Stacy, the blonde daughter of the police captain. The Goblin killed her, or rather she was killed in a Goblin-related incident. Then came the hook-up with Mary Jane, who was previously a swingin' hip-talking party girl, as you see above. She called everyone Tiger. Nothing at all like the character in the movies. Can't imagine why they didn't go with the original characters, unless they think people would be put off by a reboot that didn't remind them exactly of the movies that came before.

That said, here's Emma Stone. Much closer to the idea than Kirstin Dunst. Never liked her. Even her name sounds like something a German guy would say after he hit his thumb with a hammer.