Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield joke about their roles in The Amazing Spider-Man at Comic-Con.
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

SAN DIEGO — The next Spider-Man to swing into theaters won’t be fully formed. In the upcoming reboot of the Marvel Comics superhero story, audiences will get to see the early days of Peter Parker when he was still just a tortured geek.

“I love the idea of a skinny teenage kid beating the crap out of huge guys — that’s always been a dream of mine that I wanted to fulfill,” said Andrew Garfield, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming movie, at a Friday press conference before Sony’s panel at Comic-Con International. “What better way to do it than give other skinny kids in the audience that sense of achievement as well.”

During the movie’s Hall H panel Friday, The Amazing Spider-Man trailer was shown, along with two other clips that revealed Rhys Ifans and his green alter ego, the Lizard, and showed just how teen-angsty the movie will get.

(Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow.)

The rough 2-D footage that focused on Parker and his first love, Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone), showed plenty of awkward moments in the life of the boy who will become Spidey. Bullied and obviously troubled, Peter winds up in hot water with school authorities and gets scolded by his Uncle Ben. Then he gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and the rest is comic book history.

The film’s director, Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer), said during Friday’s press conference that Peter’s relationship with Gwen makes Spider-Man rare.

“That’s one of the things that has made Spider-Man, I think, really unique in terms of the comics, is that there is a real tender, romantic quality to it,” Webb said. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to make the film is to explore that.”

In addition to Peter’s first love, the movie also explores the genesis of his superhero side. Recalling scenes from the first Iron Man movie, the Comic-Con sneak peek showed a post-bite Peter tweaking the web-shooter gadgets he made and fumbling around as he masters the fine art of web-slinging.

Later, 3-D footage showed Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors and offered a first glimpse of the doctor’s supervillain alter ego, the Lizard. The huge CG creature scared a pair of schoolgirls in a bathroom.

Love and a hateful lizard, coming to a theater near you next summer. The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters July 3, 2012.

Additional reporting by Lewis Wallace.