Spider-Man is one of the most popular fictional characters of all time, even bigger than Sherlock Holmes, Garfield, or Theodore Roosevelt. After some hit or miss films, Peter Parker is gearing up for a whole new reboot in 2017, and with it coming hot off the heels of the lackluster Amazing reboot, the filmmakers really need to get it right. Good thing Spider-Man's many games contain the blueprints for movie success.

The get the wallcrawler as much as any other form of media. It’s about time the filmmakers recognize that. Now, in an ideal situation, the movie producers would set aside the time to play every Spider-Man game ever made, but they’re probably busy. So, with any luck, they’ll find this feature and use these in-game examples to lead them to movie magic.

Despite how often Peter Parker mopes about his loved ones dying, he should be all smiles when he puts on the mask. Ideally, Spider-Man is constantly throwing out one liners, making comments about how goofy a villain’s costume looks, or making some meta comment about a bad guy's complicated plot. This happens occasionally in the movies, but just as often Peter is crying about Uncle Ben/Aunt May/Mary Jane, telling a villain to act rationally, or looking wistfully at someone’s grave. Movie Peter can be a real bummer.

Meanwhile, Spidey’s a regular comedian in his games. The PSone's CD tech allows for Spider-Man to be his talkative self for the first time in his self-titled release, and he hasn't shut up since. Even when a game isn’t that great, Peter's constant quips help cover the action. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions goes so far as to cast four distinct Spider-Men, all with their own brand of humor, allowing even the weakest moments to flow. A steady stream of comedy can lighten the most boring 'flip three switches' puzzles or villainous exposition delivered by Alfred Molina.

Parker is a 15-year-old high school student when he's bitten by a radioactive spider, and he hasn't aged all that much since. Unlike Batman or Iron Man, Spider-Man is a more relatable age to younger comic fans, and the producers smartly cast younger guys in the role. However, the films often rush through his teen years, getting him closer to adulthood than necessary. Tobey MaGuire's Peter is living in Manhattan halfway through his first movie, and by the trilogy’s end he’s proposing to Mary Jane. Amazing handles his youth better, but is still quick to get him to graduation in the sequel.

Ultimate Spider-Man - based on the comic of the same name - introduces Peter as a teen and keeps him that way. He’s a stressed out kid trying to balance homework and foiling bank robberies. Hopefully the next movie will keep him just as young, but even an adult Parker can feel young. Just be sure to avoid the mistakes of Spidey's Sega CD game - he sounds like a dopey old uncle making bad jokes at Thanksgiving.

Most Spider-Man movies have a scene or two where Peter starts to understand his Spider-Sense, the psychic warning system that alerts him to danger. Unfortunately, he just as often forgets those warnings, sometimes getting shot in the leg by cops, or ambushed by The Lizard, or caught by surprise in one of Green Goblin’s traps. When his Spider-Sense is active, that should never happen. For the most part, the games do their best to keep that in mind.

Often Spidey games use Spider-Sense as the reason he can dodge attacks as well as Kratos or Bayonetta, making his dexterity much more believable than theirs. The Amazing Spider-Man film tie-ins take it a step farther, using Spider-Sense to replicate the kind of enhanced vision seen in Arkham Asylum or Assassin's Creed. The powers are just vague enough in the comics that the tingling sensation can be used in a variety of ways… if you're creative enough.

Up until recent negotiations between movie studios, Spider-Man films were treated like a remote island, kept far away from all the other Avengers. Now we know that Parker will get to meet the likes of Iron Man and Captain America, the real question is just how familiar will they get? Now that the film producers have this opportunity to play with those interpersonal dynamics in more than just a couple scenes. As the games show, Spider-Man is great at playing with others.

Having characters constantly run into one another is core to the Marvel Universe - why do you think they all live in New York? - and a number of Spidey games use that to their advantage. From the original arcade game to Marvel Heroes 2015, Spider-Man fits in with just about any team of Marvel heroes. Plus, Web of Shadows and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance's plots depend on Spidey's connections to guys like Wolverine and Human Torch. Soon Spidey will be just as chummy on film as he is in games, so we need all of Spider-Man and his amazing friends that we can get.

This problem goes beyond Spider-Man, because it's difficult to find any comic book villains that are a big enough threat for an entire film. After facing enemies on the level of Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, a guy made out of sand just doesn't seem as threatening. Movies like Amazing Spider-Man 2 end up overpowering B-level guys like Elektro for variety's sake, and it just feels weak. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a role to fill. Some villains are only worth five minutes of screen time, instead of being excluded entirely.

Spidey’s games find time to explore his dense rogues gallery without overexposing the lesser ones. Each stage in Shattered Dimensions is a contained level that follows a single villain, such as Kraven, Sandman, and The Vulture. Every nemesis gets enough time to make an impact, but aren’t seen so long that you get sick of them. The Beetle, Ringer, Swarm, and similar goofs aren't worthy of a climactic battle, but they're good for a quick back and forth with Spidey before he leaves them webbed to lightpost.

There's at least one Spider-bad guy that gets way less than he deserves on film. For readers in the '90s, Venom was a thing of nightmares. He's faster and stronger than Spider-Man, much more dangerous, and he's constantly threatening to eat people's brains. He isn't a bleach blonde twerp that tries to take Spider-Man's photo and is easily beaten by loud noises. Spider-Man 3 turns a beast into clown, and if Venom ever returns to the films, they need to make him half as menacing as he is in the games.

First seen in Spider-Man Arcade, Venom's vicious in just about every appearance, even when he's on your side in games like Maximum Carnage. His slimy green tongue is a highlight of the Marvel vs. Capcom games, and one of the first things Venom does in Ultimate Spider-Man is eat a child. This is a bad, bad man, and strong enough to fill a whole movie if you treat him right.

This whole article would be more concise with one slide saying 'don't do anything from Spider-Man 3,' but let's dig into this while on the subject of Venom. The black symbiote suit that spawns his arch nemesis is first worn by Spidey, and it changes him. Yes, it makes him more violent, but it also turns him into a bad boyfriend with an emo haircut and an interest in Bob Fosse. All this from a random rock that falls from outer space?

Spider-Man's second-most famous outfit handles much better in Web of Shadows. You can shift into the black costume at any moment, making Spidey's attacks fiercer and more devastating - like a Marvel version of Kratos. The suit's evil influence is also made more obvious in-game moral choices like choosing sides in a gang war or helping the Black Cat steal valuables from the mob. If Spidey's going bad, go all the way.

Spider-Man is a vigilante, one who'll be arrested should the cops ever find out who he is. Having a secret identity prevents that, and it also protects Peter's loved ones from being murdered by every one of his villains. So why in the hell does Spider-Man take his mask off so often in his movies? Whether stopping a speeding train speeding, helping a kid out of a burning car, or simply letting the cops remove it, he can't keep the damn thing on.

So, while you could knock the games for rarely exploring the life of Peter out of costume, he at least keeps his mask on at all times. Even the worst Spidey game - for the record, that's Web of Fire - keeps Peter's identity protected throughout, rarely even animating Parker's face. Sure, in the movies people want to see Spider-Man's handsome face, but save that for dates with Gwen Stacy or conversations in Aunt May's kitchen.

The Amazing Spider-Man films were supposed to be more than just a trilogy of Andrew Garfield's costumed adventures. The original plan was to spin-off into a series of films, including The Sinister Six, and solo pictures starring Venom and Black Cat. The next reboot seems to wash that all away, making Amazing Spider-Man 2 stuffed full of scenes that set up a future that's never coming. Don't count your sequel money before it opens.

Perhaps you could chalk it up to the studio cycle Activision uses for the 15-plus years of Spider-Man games, but sequels are rarely planned for. More often the character bounds from one bang-up to the next, getting a fresh status quo each time. Ultimate Spider-Man, Web of Shadows, and Shattered Dimensions aren't trying to build to some universe-spanning battle that may happen in five years. That urgency means there's much more time for punching The Lizard in the face right now.

Cross your fingers that the next director of Spider-Man reads this, because the world deserves a Spidey film as good as his best games. If any other fans have tips from the games, share it all in the comments!

And if you're looking for more comic book fun, check out the .

Sonic hasn't had a very good few months. First Sonic Boom tanked, then the bailiffs came round to repossess his All-Stars Racing car. Then he wagered Tails' plane trying to get the car back and ended up losing them both. He hasn't told Tails yet. Then there was the speculation in the press that maybe it was . Even Amy has started only calling twice a day. Needless to say, he blames a lot of other people for the situation he's found himself in… which is where this list comes in.

This is Sonic's hit list. It details all the people he feels have wronged him. The ones who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes. Of course this isn't normal or healthy behaviour; Sonic's gone a bit wrong. He tried so hard for so long, kept up his chipper demeanor and even pretended to enjoy playing tennis. Well, now he's snapped. Writing it all down is likely just his coping mechanism and he'll probably never go through with it for real. Probably.

Sonic read A Clockwork Orange the other day and was struck in particular by the bit about how Dim would be grateful to Alex for being pulled from water, even if it was Alex that had pushed him in. That's how Sonic feels about DK. Indeed, he fantasises about pushing DK into water. Deep water.

But he wouldn't help him out again. He'd stand and watch as the waves took him over, foaming and crashing like an aquatic recreation of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. He'd viddy good. Real horrorshow, like.

The Olympic Games are all about athleticism. Training. Speed. Sheer, glorious speed. It's everything that Sonic stands for. Amy? Not so much. It's not even the fact that Sonic had his speed reduced by the judges so that everyone else had a chance. It's that stupid inane grin on Amy's face when she stands on the top step of the podium, and says "That's right, I'm the best".

That's not even slightly right, Amy! You're slow in Sonic Adventure, slow in Sonic R and painfully slow on the uptake when it comes to the fact that Sonic ISN'T INTERESTED. And enough with trying to get him to babysit lost birdies. You're depriving a buzzard of its dinner.

Shadow represents everything that's gone wrong for Sonic, and is basically the opposite of him. When Sonic still actually gave a flying f*** about anything except self-loathing, he stood for eco-friendly, nature-loving, friend-helping goodness. Shadow? He 'likes guns'. And he was so blown up at the end of Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic even got to say one of his best lines: "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog". It was poignant. It was dramatic. It had freakin' piano behind it. And yet who pops up again in everything a few weeks later? Shadow.

To rub salt into the Shadowy wounds, the utterly abysmal Gamecube/Xbox/PS2 game Shadow the Hedgehog is arguably better than Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. He can't be allowed to get away with that. It must all be... erased.

Got your own game, did you, Knucklehead? Well no-one plays it. It's only worth loads of money on eBay because so few people bothered to buy it in the first place. You know how many people have played the original Sonic the Hedgehog? EVERYONE.

This would have all been resolved much sooner if Knuckles hadn't transformed into a walking advertisement for steroid abuse. But Sonic will have his day. Just when Knuckles least expects it, Sonic's wrath will rain down upon him like a ton of lead. But first he needs to ask if Knuckles will lend him a few Benjamins, just till the rent gets paid.

It's little surprise, but Sonic blames Mario for everything. Every. Thing. The reason it rained during his 14th birthday party? Mario's fault. The reason they keep forcing Sonic to embrace the third dimension? Mario's fault. The reason he can't love Amy? Mario's fault. See, Mario's so under Sonic's skin, he is unable to think of anything else.

That time Princess Elise kissed Sonic to wake him? Sonic only woke up because he dreamed it was Mario. Yes, he is f***ed up. But whose fault is that, really? Mario's.

USURPER! That's what Sonic thinks whenever someone says the word 'NiGHTS'. Actually, he thinks that any time anyone says the words 'PlayStation', 'Knuckles' or 'Boyz II Men'.

Worse still, NiGHTS only ever exists in dreams, and that includes Sonic's. Ironic, really. NiGHTS is supposed to soothe nightmares, yet Sonic's feverish hallucinations are full of him. Him and that stupid invisible flute. It's always the same: NiGHTS plays it, and Sonic dances. He can't stop dancing. Oh god, how he can not stop.

Everyone hates Bubsy, but at least Sonic can least look down on him. The reason Bubsy's on the list is all about power. Sonic is better than Bubsy. Bubsy is worse than Sonic. This mantra helps Sonic sleep at night and he may, or may not, have scratched it into the walls of his house several hundred times. With his fingernails. Yes, some of the words are written in red.

I should probably add that Sonic's house smells funny, too. And all of the light bulbs need replacing. But even so, I hear that's better than Bubsy's doing these days.

Despite what you might think, Sonic and Robotnik actually go for drinks together nowadays. They sit at the bar, clinking their glasses of neat whiskey, reminiscing about all the various buttons that Dr R jumped on to foil Sonic and arguing about whether Sonic's invincibility music was better than Robotnik's boss theme. Happy days.

Sonic still pulls his hand away from Robotnik at the end of the evening, eschewing the manly handshake in favour of blowing a raspberry. 'Gotta blow rasps', right? Robotnik knows it's coming every time, but he still says 'ahh, you got me'. Sonic's toyed with the idea of getting Robotnik to help with the hit list, but the guy's getting on a bit now. He must've been in his late 50s in 1991, and the process of shifting that enormous bulk down from the bar stool looks like a Herculian effort at the end of each evening. Robotnik does a lot of stage work for charity, though. Sonic's considered it, but he can't bear the inevitable humiliation of asking the crowd where his career is.