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FACTBOX: Key facts about Spider-Man

Wed May 2, 2007 3:15pm EDT
A man dressed as Spider-Man poses for photographers at the ''Spider-Man 3'' world premiere event in Tokyo April 16, 2007. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

(Reuters) - "Spider-Man 3" smashed box office records across eight Asian markets on Tuesday, as the superhero sequel got a head start on the rest of the world, the film's distributor said. The movie debuts globally May 4.

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Here are some facts about the character and the film:

* Spider-Man, the comic hero in a striped red and blue costume, was originally created by Stan Lee, a former Marvel comic book writer, with artist Steve Ditko in 1962 for an issue of Amazing Fantasy.

* The story revolves around Peter Parker, a teenager who is accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider and develops superhuman powers. He disguises himself as the superhero to fight crime in his spare time.

* Under an agreement with Marvel Enterprises, which holds the intellectual property rights, Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, produced the first film "Spider-Man" in 2002 with a sequel "Spider-Man 2" in 2004.

* A day after the September 11 attacks on New York City in 2001, Sony Pictures pulled from theaters trailers for "Spiderman" in which bank robbers are caught in a web spun between the World Trade Center towers. Sony also withdrew its posters in which the towers were shown.

* In the comic version, Spider-Man's high school crush, Gwen Stacy, ended up being kidnapped by the villain Green Goblin and died during a bridge-top battle in "Amazing Spider-Man" issue 121. Though the 2002 movie featured the famous battle with the Green Goblin, a Hollywood ending was added, and the character survived.

* The new film "Spider-Man 3," which the studio said cost $258 million, shows tension between the three main characters, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire), his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and his best friend and sometimes adversary, Harry Osborn (James Franco). Spider-Man also battles new villains in the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Venom (Topher Grace).

* The film's new video game version produced by Activision, expands the story of the film to include 19 more side missions and exclusive comic book villains such as Lizard, Scorpion and Carlyle.
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