A Dream Role That Vanished
Shailene Woodley has spoken about her experience being cast as Mary Jane Watson in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' and later discovering that her scenes were cut from the final film. In a recent interview for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations series, she described the role as a dream come true, since Spider-Man was her favorite superhero and Mary Jane her favorite character growing up.[S1][S2][S3]
Woodley shot roughly three scenes alongside Andrew Garfield, who portrayed Peter Parker. Yet, about a year later, she got a call saying she wouldn't be in the film. She described that call as 'fun' and recalled being puzzled, asking for clarification, and being told that the movie had brought in many new characters and they'd see how things went between Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy and Garfield's character.[S1][S2][S4]
The Plan That Never Came to Be
Woodley was informed that the plan was to bring in Mary Jane after Gwen Stacy's demise, which seemed logical to her, but that sequel never materialized. She acknowledged that was what she was told, but joked that the real reason might differ, even suggesting she could have been so bad they decided to drop her.[S1][S2][S4]
At the New York premiere of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' in 2014, producer Matt Tolmach explained that the story had become too large, with a 148-page script, and they realized the Mary Jane storyline would not fit in that movie. The role of Mary Jane had previously been played by Kirsten Dunst in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.[S1][S3]
What's Next for Garfield's Spider-Man?
Andrew Garfield has since returned to the role of Spider-Man in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire. He has expressed openness to playing the character again, but only if the story were unconventional and strange. He also said he would not reprise the role in 'Avengers: Doomsday', but hasn't ruled out another solo film.[S2][S5]
If Garfield's Spider-Man returns, Woodley's Mary Jane could finally make her debut, making her deleted role relevant again. In her interview, Woodley also discussed her performances in other projects like 'Divergent', 'The Fault in Our Stars', and 'Big Little Lies'.[S1][S4]
