In the Spider-man comics, Peter Parker has always alternated between love interests. sometimes Gwen, sometimes Felicia, sometimes MJ, sometimes Silk. Obviously, things haven’t always gone well on that front (including forgotten weddings, vanished daughters, and dead girlfriends), but this dance is essential to understanding the superhero’s story. That’s why what they tried to do in The Amazing Spider-man 2 was so exciting and important… with an absolutely heartbreaking final result.
Mary Jane Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Shailene Woodley, now known for the Divergent saga, Motor City, Pretty Little Liars or The Secret Life of the American Teenager, was on the verge of having her breakout moment playing Mary Jane Watson. Yes, the very Mary Jane Watson you’re thinking of, Peter Parker’s longtime love interest, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. She shot her scenes, waited for the final cut and… Well, if you’ve seen the movie you know it never saw the light of day.
“It was my dream because Spider-man is my favorite superhero. Mary Jane was my favorite character when I was young, and, when I got the role, it felt very exciting. Andrew Garfield and I shot three scenes together. And then, a year later, they told me ‘Well, you’re not in the movie anymore. We’ve introduced a whole bunch of new characters and we’re going to wait for… what happens between Gwen Stacy and Peter”. In other words: we’re going to kill Gwen and then we’ll see what we do with you.
Indeed, the script was very long and a bit of a muddle, but that’s no reason to sideline a character as important as this one… especially when they never made The Amazing Spider-man 3 and we were left wanting to see Woodley as MJ. Maybe someday? The multiverse is, after all, very, very vast…
