Unless Marc Webb is planning the single biggest film of all time with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it’s a probably a safe bet that the ever-increasing roster of villains teased through the viral campaign’s Daily Bugle Tumblr won’t all be making appearances in the May 2 release. That being said, Columbia Pictures has made it clear that they plan to expand their cinematic Spider-verse with films like Venom and The Sinister Six and, today, the viral references another familiar comic book villain, Professor Miles Warren, aka the Jackal.
Warren first appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #31, although it was nearly a decade before it was revealed that he was the alter ego of the fiendish and furry foe whose unrequited love for Gwen Stacy led to him attempting to clone her after her death at the hands of the Green Goblin. In the process, Warren accidentally cloned Peter Parker, creating a duplicate Spider-Man that, another two decades later, led to the start of “The Clone Saga,” one of the more infamous storylines in Spider-Man’s history. The full post (credited to Ken Ellis, a fictional reporter who made his debut during “The Clone Saga”) reads as follows:
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??
Opening in theaters on May 2, 2014, the Marc Webb-directed sequel stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper, B.J. Novak and Sarah Gadon.
