“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” Viral Marketing Campaign Teases Clone Saga Story Arc

We all know that Sony is going to expand Spider-Man Cinematic Universe by making films for Venom and the Sinister Six, but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 viral marketing campaign took an interesting turn today. While the latest blog entry on The Daily Bugle blog is yet another name drop, it could be an important one considering the villain was in one of the most famous story arcs in Spider-Man’s publication history.

The villain is none other than Professor Miles Warren, aka the Jackal. Making his first appearance in Spider-Man #31, Warren developed feelings for Gwen Stacy when she and Peter Parker visited Empire State University. However when Stacy was killed by the Green Goblin, he falsely accused Spider-Man for her death. Hit the jump to read the full report from the Daily Bugle.

It’s either a sign of the times or a sign of the apocalypse…

Manhattan’s Empire State University announced a new class for the 2014 fall semester in advanced biogenetics that will actually require the successful cloning of a living creature. Introduction to Live Cloning, taught by noted geneticist Professor Miles Warren, is the first class of its kind anywhere in the world.

When asked about the ethical aspects of teaching a class on how to clone living cells, Warren said, “Our responsibility is to educate our students and prepare them for life. For those who study genetics or biology, cloning will be a fact of life.”

The ethical aspects of cloning are irrelevant to Warren, who added, “We are cloning single-celled amoeba. Maybe one day we’ll work our way up to mice. There is no ethical dilemma. Save your red flag for when I start cloning co-eds…”

Jackal made his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #148, with Spider-Man’s clone, Ben Reilly, was first seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #149.

Now what makes this blog entry so interesting is that it could open the door for these Spider-Man films that would focus on story arcs like the Clone Saga. We’ll see where this goes, it’s unlikely that we will see any of these villains considering that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already chock full with villains.

Directed by Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper, B.J. Novak and Sarah Gadon. Sony Pictures will release the film on May 2, 2014.