We have known for quite a while that Shailene Woodley‘s role as Mary Jane Watson had been cut by director Marc Webb from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. Without revealing any plot elements at the time, Webb explained that he wanted to keep the Gwen Stacy/Peter Parker dynamic as the central focus of the superhero sequel. In recent months, we have all discussed the overload of villains and characters added to the movie and the question became whether cutting Woodley was due to bad casting or truly a changed direction for the film.
With the movie finally hitting audiences this weekend, Webb has shared some details as to what the scenes shot with Woodley entailed and how they fit into the overall film. There are obviously spoilers in these interview excerpts, so scroll past the Emma Stone/Shailene Woodley set photo at your own risk.
Speaking with Movies.com, Webb shared that Mary Jane was always going to appear in just a single scene and he provides a breakdown of it.
“There was one little scene at the beginning where she is next door and it took place right around the montage where he comes back and there was another little moment between Gwen and MJ. But it just tipped over. The relationship between them [Peter and Gwen] is so sacred and so powerful, that it just didn’t feel right. And it sucks because Shailene is such a f**king great actress and so cool and magical but it was just about having this obligation to this romance that I thought was sacred. It was just one of those things.”
Webb goes on to praise Woodley’s performance but remains unsure if her commitment to the DIVERGENT sequels will prevent her from appearing in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3 or beyond. From those who have seen THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, the fate of Gwen and Peter’s relationship is pretty solid and the next question is whether a relationship with Mary Jane or the already introduced Felicia Hardy (aka Black Cat) in the sequel will be next up.
“Oh absolutely. The question, of course, is can Peter ever love again? And that will be something that we have to address.”
The casting of Woodley garnered a lot of backlash from fans who didn’t think she was pretty enough to play MJ or follow the gorgeous Emma Stone as the next love for Spider-man. To those folks I say take a look at the image below and tell me you don’t think Shailene Woodley is hot enough to play Mary Jane.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 opens this Friday, May 2nd.