Wondering why Shailene Woodley was cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Here’s her answer

Right, here's one from the bottom of Marvel's lost property box: Remember when Shailene Woodley was all set to join The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Mary Jane Watson? If you blinked, you missed it – mainly because she never showed up in the finished film at all. The story of how Woodley's stint as Peter Parker's other great love got snipped is a minor saga in itself, and to be honest, it's got a bit of an odd aftertaste about the whole way that film (and its scrapped sequel) were handled.

Woodley told the SAG-AFTRA Foundation: "We shot it. That was a fun phone call. I was cast as Mary Jane for 'Spider-Man,' which was my dream because I really—oh my God, Spider-Man's my favourite superhero. Mary Jane was my favourite character growing up. So, when I got it, I was like, 'This is so exciting.'

For context, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was already trying to be all things to all people: Green Goblin, Electro, Rhino, a million dangling threads. Somewhere in that mix, Woodley filmed three scenes as Mary Jane, acting opposite Andrew Garfield. This was set up as an intro for the next chapter, with studio plans to bring her back properly in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. (Spoiler: That third film never materialised.)

After almost a year of radio silence, she was told: "They were like, 'So, you're not in the movie anymore.' And I was like, 'What? What do you mean?' 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—like, whatever happens between her and Andrew.' They were like, 'Let's wait for her to die, and then we’ll introduce Mary Jane,' which made sense. But then they didn't make that film."

It gets a bit messy from there. The official line was that they thought it’d be odd to roll up with a brand new love interest while things with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) were still playing out. Woodley herself admits even she doesn't know if that's the full truth: for all she knows, they just didn't fancy her performance. Classic Hollywood – if you blink you might find your whole subplot's vanished in the edit suite.

• Shailene Woodley filmed three scenes as Mary Jane Watson for The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Her character was cut because the studio didn't want to introduce a new love interest while Gwen Stacy was still main focus
• The plan was for Mary Jane to appear in the never-made The Amazing Spider-Man 3
• Other abandoned elements: Norman Osborn’s severed head in a jar, Richard Parker secretly alive, assorted weirdness left on the cutting room floor
• In the end, the franchise was rebooted (again) after only two Garfield films

All the bits that hit the floor – not just Mary Jane, but subplots involving Harry’s dad’s severed noggin in a jar, Peter’s dad faking his own death, etc. – are proof the producers really were throwing everything at the wall and seeing what stuck. Eventually, Garfield did get another day in the webs in No Way Home, at least, by way of a multiverse cameo alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire.

If you’re wondering what Woodley’s been up to now, she’s just starred with Alan Ritchson and Ben Foster in Motor City, an ultra-stripped-down action film that’s pretty much allergic to dialogue (which, honestly, works in its favour). The action's said to be brutal, and Woodley apparently sidesteps the usual femme fatale cliché – not exactly a shrinking violet, either, as she wastes little time moving on when Foster's character lands behind bars.