Okay, okay, we probably could've written a better headline for that, but it's true: Thanks to Spidermedia.ru, we now have our first look at The Amazing Spider-Man movie's version of The Lizard. Played by Rhys Ifans, the villainous and occasionally cannibalistic alter-ego of Dr. Curt Connors is set to go up against Spider-Man on the big screen next year, and as tends to happen with this sort of thing, he's a little different the look that Spider-Man fans might be used to.

Check out the full shot of the Lizard and see how he stacks up against his comic book counterpart after the cut!


The movie version of the Lizard seems to have more of a human head than the gator-esque dome that he sports in the comics, which has given the folks over at ComicBookMovie.com the idea that this is the Lizard in the early stages of his transformation. I don't buy it -- you don't usually only get promotional shots of something that's actually completed, and this seems to fit the bill. I mean really, he's even got the tail working.

Although I actually do like it based on the one picture we've got so far, the Voldemort-style flattened snake head that he's got going isn't the most notable change that they've made for the screen. For me, that comes from the fact that that dude is straight up naked.


For those of you who may not be aware, the Lizard was introduced by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko way back in 1963's The Amazing Spider-Man #6 as a one-armed scientist who was attempting to re-grow his lost limb by experimenting with the regenerative properties that allow lizards to regrow their tails once they've been severed. Unfortunately, because he lived in a universe where you could come down with a life-ruining mutation just by looking the wrong way at an animal in a science lab, he ended up mutating his entire body, becoming one of Spider-Man's most lasting foes.

And back then, he did it fully dressed, gosh darn it. He even had the purple pants that, due to an obscure New York State law established in 1961, were mandatory for anyone who developed a transformation into a super-powered green monster.

The only thing keeping the omission of his lab coat from becoming a full-fledged Slap In The Face To The Fans™ is the fact that it's not exactly without precedent in the comics:


In his most recent appearance in the comics, a 2010 story called "Shed" by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo that stands as the single best Lizard story ever published, Connors' alter-ego ditched the lab coat along with his humanity in his transformation to a more ruthless, bestial form. Even so, I've got my eye on this whole situation, and you have my solemn word as a comics journalist that I won't rest until I get to the bottom of the Anti-Purple-Pants conspiracy holding Hollywood in a death grip.

What do you think about the image of the Lizard we have so far?

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