Shailene Woodley has spoken candidly about her experience being cast as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a role she described as a lifelong dream, only to have her scenes ultimately cut from the 2014 film. Woodley shared her reflections in a recent interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Conversations, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Woodley recalled the initial excitement of securing the part, given her childhood admiration for the character and the superhero. "Spider-Man’s my favorite superhero; Mary Jane was my favorite character growing up. So, when I got it, I was like, ‘This is so exciting!'" she stated.
Filming involved approximately three scenes with Andrew Garfield, who portrayed Peter Parker. However, about a year after production wrapped, Woodley was informed that her character would not appear in the final cut. The reasoning provided at the time suggested a narrative adjustment, intending to focus on the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. "They were like, ‘Let’s wait for her to die, and then we’ll introduce Mary Jane,’" Woodley explained, adding that the subsequent film never materialized, preventing her character's intended introduction.
Director Marc Webb corroborated that Woodley delivered strong performances during her two days of filming. He cited the challenge of introducing a new romantic interest while the central relationship between Peter and Gwen was so prominent. Producer Matt Tolmach agreed, stating, "We had a superhero opera, and as great as Shailene is, she didn’t really co-exist with the bigger story we were telling." The filmmakers felt it would be difficult to have Peter Parker contemplating Gwen Stacy’s fate while simultaneously introducing a new romantic option.
Plans for Woodley to reprise the role in The Amazing Spider-Man 3 never came to fruition, as Sony Pictures and Marvel subsequently rebooted the franchise with a new cast. Andrew Garfield later returned as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and has expressed openness to a third Amazing Spider-Man film under specific, perhaps unusual, circumstances.