The Rhino Crashes Into Activision's Upcoming 'The Amazing Spider-Man'
Until fairly recently in the comics, Spider-Man villain the Rhino (a.k.a. Aleksei Sytsevich) more often than teetered somewhere between being a dim-witted heavy out to make a buck or comic relief for our hero. The joke was that he was as strong as his namesake, but maybe not as smart. But around two years ago in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, writer Dan Slott kind of gave the character a rethink, in a move that could have been disastrous, showing us how this con who used to have this rock skin suit grafted to his body was trying to get his life together found love and happiness only to have it all come apart in his hands, and it was one of the more heartbreaking characterizations in recent memory.
From the bio that The Amazing Spider-Man developer have put together for Aleskei for the upcoming game, it looks like they're planning to play up that angle along with the slightly modified design (playing up the animal angle) from his comic book incarnation. Check out more screens, concept art, and a trailer for the new Rhino after the jump.
While he won't be appearing in the movie this summer (the big villain there will be Rhys Ifans' the Lizard), Beenox gave the Rhino a fairly detailed bio that works its way into the new continuity for the series reboot:
At first glance, Rhino seems like nothing more than an angry, mindless cross of rhinoceros and human DNA, bent on mowing over anything or anyone stupid enough to stand in his way. His mere appearance is known to scare many into believing that Rhino and all cross-species are abominations that must be destroyed. Yet, the few who have looked into his eyes (and survived) have reported their surprise in sensing a degree of humanity there. Almost a sadness.
Unlike all of the other cross-species, which were created after Curt Connors terrorized the city as the Lizard, Rhino was the result of a pet project belonging to a corrupt Oscorp executive with access to Connors’ research. Abusing this access, he applied this top-secret knowledge to black-market dealings.
Without the knowledge or consent of his superiors at Oscorp, the executive forcefully enlisted the help of Dr. Michael Morbius, threatening to end the reclusive biochemist’s career if he refused to help. Morbius reluctantly complied, applying the rhinoceros DNA with which the executive supplied him to a cross-species serum similar in nature to Connors’ own for the Lizard.
The next step was to test the serum, and the executive’s underworld clients were all too happy to provide his oblivious human test subject: a low-level thug named Aleksei Sytsevich. If it worked, the mafia would have a new weapon on its hands; if not...no great loss.
After an excruciatingly painful transformation, Sytsevich was now a hybrid of man and rhinoceros, ready to tear apart anything in his path – the executive’s clients would be pleased. That is, if they are ever to receive their investment…
This is what he looks like mixing it up with the new Spider-Man:
And here's the new trailer for the character:
The Amazing Spider-Man will be available on June 26th for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and 3DS, while its film counterpart opens on July 3rd.
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