The Spider-man character may be bitter and even melancholy at times in the new Spider-man 3, but the movie got a joyous reception at its official Japanese premiere in Tokyo April 16.

Japan is full of fans of superhero comics, so the producers probably figured the country would be a good place to launch the third installment of the Spider-man movie series, and make a mark in the international box office. Oftentimes movies make enough money in the overseas market to make up for a disappointing U.S. gross.

It was reported that Kirsten (Mary Jane) Dunst and Tobey (Spider-man) Maguire were bombarded with screams of "kawaii" ("cute") by hundreds of young Japanese at an open-air event for fans held before the premiere.

Maguire called Tokyo one of the few cities in the world that was suited to "Spider-Man," with his habit of swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper on his sider webs the way Tarzan used to swing through trees in the jungle.

"If we do a fourth movie, we might need Spider-Man to come to Tokyo," he said, which led to another round of enthusiastic screams from the assembled fans.

Sony announced during the fan event that the Japanese opening date for the film would be moved forward to May 1st. Japan is the second-biggest "Spider-Man" market after the United States.

The movie opens around the rest of the world on May 4.