As many of us true believers know, Shailene Woodley was set to appear as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but at the last-minute, she was cut from the film. Rumor is, the reason for this was because Peter and Gwen’s relationship needed to be something audiences focused on, especially considering the film’s resolution. My personal opinion of this is mixed:

Why she shouldn’t have been cut…

Let’s face it, Shailene Woodley has basically everything. She has the look (as you can see above) and the personality. Anyone that has seen The Spectacular Now would know what I am talking about. Her character in that film, Aimee Finecky, was pretty close to Mary Jane. Although she didn’t have her flirtatious confidence, Aimee lived in an environment in which she had to fend for herself, with an ailing mother and a father that died from a pill overdose, losing a battle of addiction. She is much like MJ in this capacity. The chemistry that she has with Miles Teller’s character, Sutter Keely, is amazing. He is the polar opposite of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, but just like Peter, he has issues. Aimee supports him in overcoming these, which is a good quality in someone whose boyfriend is Spider-Man. My love for her in this film is what left me yearning for her to appear in TASM 2 when I first heard the news. Alas, she was cut, which left me pretty frustrated. This meant that I was going to have to wait until TASM 3 to see the character appear, if it is even played by Woodley, which isn’t even enough time, especially when you consider the fact Andrew Garfield might not be in the fourth one. But, I had to take into consideration why she was cut, reasons for which I actually find understandable.

Why it was a good thing she was cut…

I’m not entirely sure which came first, but Woodley was signed on to be in the Divergent trilogy despite filming these scenes of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. What’s upsetting, yet probably inevitable, is that the filming schedule won’t leave Woodley with enough time to fill the role of Mary Jane in future Spider-Man films. With this in mind, putting MJ in the movie would have been a big mistake in that they would have to recast having already had Woodley appear as her, which definitely would have been frowned upon by fans.

What next?…

Hopefully, Mary Jane Watson will be in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Even though cramming her relationship with Peter into one movie if Garfield won’t be in the one that follows will bother me to no end (unless something changes), she will be a nice addition to the story. Just in case Woodley doesn’t come back, which is highly likely, I have a personal favorite out of all the suggested actresses by many articles online to take her place in the role, and she is…drumroll please…

Jane Levy! She looks even more like Mary Jane, and plenty of people rave about her role in the Evil Dead remake, which I still have to watch. Nonetheless, I trust the instincts of my fellow true believers! Hoping and waiting to see Webb’s Mary Jane on the big screen!

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