Shailene Woodley has admitted to one of the less successful moments of her fledgling acting career, after her scenes portraying Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 got cut after shooting. In an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation recently, the actress said she was made aware of the decision about a year after shooting her scenes with Andrew Garfield. It was an incredible honour for her to be cast as Mary Jane, as Spider-Man was her favourite superhero whilst Mary Jane was her favourite character as a child, Woodley said.
It was supposed to be Woodley’s turn to star in a 2014 superhero sequel, opposite Garfield’s Peter Parker as Mary Jane Watson.
The actress says she was asked to shoot about three scenes with Garfield, but that she was eventually cut from the final film. Woodley was thrilled to be bringing one of her most beloved comic-book characters to the big screen, but the announcement came as a surprise. Years later, she remembered with laughter the unexpected call, and recalled it as a memorable phone call.
It was for the film’s plot, which ties in with Peter Parker’s involvement with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Woodley said the filmmakers had added a few new characters, and were awaiting additional input before adding another big romantic interest to Peter’s tale. What they say they were going to do is to introduce Mary Jane after Gwen’s death at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It worked out all right for me when I was making up my mind, which is to say my character didn’t ever appear in the film, but the reason seemed to make sense then,” Woodley said.
That was because of the film’s crowded story. During an interview in 2014, producer Matt Tolmach stated that the film had agreed to more story than it was able to do and that’s why Mary Jane was cut. Later, Woodley explained that she was told Mary Jane might be included in a third Amazing Spider-Man film in the future. Unfortunately, that sequel never came to pass, and the actress’s film appearance was no use, making her casting one of the most interesting “what if?” scenarios in the franchise.
The role was particularly meaningful to Woodley because of its personal significance. She remembered that as a child, her favourite character was Mary Jane and that the part was a dream come true. Years later, she has had a more relaxed attitude to the situation, even joking that she isn’t quite sure of the full explanation behind the decision. She admitted that they told her it was because they didn’t need to give her another love interest at that stage, and she cracked a joke that maybe she just didn’t work out as the filmmakers saw fit.
As much as 11 years later, Woodley’s cut Mary Jane is still an interesting part of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 lore. While Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man did come back in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Woodley’s Mary Jane was never given the opportunity to star in the franchise. Her new words have now reignited interest in the scenes that never got to be seen and the alternate direction the series could’ve gone if Amazing Spider-Man 3 is going to be produced.
