First pics of Giamatti as The Rhino in Spider-man sequel

The first on-set pictures have been snapped of Paul Giamatti as villain The Rhino in the sequel to 'The Amazing Spider-Man'.

Resplendent in a tracksuit, Giamatti also sports some spectacular tatts, including some rather aggressive barbed wire on his forehead.

[Related story: Foxx embraces his inner nerd for Spider-Man sequel]

'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' director Marc Webb tweeted another action shot too over the weekend, with the text: “Привет Америка. Познакомьтесь с Алексеем Сицевичем!”, translated as 'Hello, America. Meet Aleksei Sytsevich!'

Sytsevich is The Rhino's real name from the comic books, a notoriously dim-witted former Eastern Bloc thug-for-hire who consented to take part in an experiment which bonded a super strength polymer to his skin, giving him super-human strength and speed.

However, he lacks the comparable super-human intellect.

The role is something of a departure for character actor Giamatti, though he does have form in comic books – having played comic book writer Harvey Pekar in the film 'American Splendor'.

The film will also feature another villain in the form of Jamie Foxx's Electro, the first pictures of whom emerged last month.

Andrew Garfield stars once again as Peter Parker, and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.

Meanwhile, new recruits include Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, Chris Cooper as his father Norman Osborn – who later becomes the Green Goblin – and Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson.

It's due out on April 18, 2014.