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Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man never met MJ because filmmakers though it would be too weird - even though it was filmed

Shailene Woodley filmed scenes as Mary Jane Watson for The Amazing Spider-Man 2

An image from Amazing Spider-Man — Image credit: Sony Pictures

News by Jules Chin Greene, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Aug 27 2026

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Believe it or not, Shailene Woodley was once cast as Mary Jane in the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies. However, because Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy, you know, dramatically dies in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, filmmakers decided that the timing wasn't right for Peter Parker to meet Woodley's Mary Jane Watson just yet... although that didn't stop them from filming Woodley's scenes for the movie.

Shailene Woodley unpacked Sony Pictures' decision to cut her from 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in a conversation with Jenelle Riley at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

"I was cast as Mary Jane for Spider-Man, which was my dream because I really, oh my god, 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.' And then we filmed like three scenes together, me and Andrew Garfield. And then like a year later, they were like, 'So you're not in the movie anymore?' And I was like, 'What? What do you mean?' And they were like, 'We've introduced a lot of new characters in this last one, and we're going to wait for Emma Stone['s character Gwen Stacy to die]... and then we'll introduce Mary Jane.' Which made sense. But then they didn't make that film." Woodley said.

"They thought it would be weird to introduce a new love interest," the actress concluded.

Was Sony right in cutting Woodley from the film? That remains to be seen within the court of public opinion. Now imagine if Woodley's Mary Jane popped up in Avengers: Secret Wars completely unprompted.

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, and Multiverse of Color.