Archive · 31 Aug 2026
Shailene Woodley Explains Mary Jane’s Cut From Spider-Man Sequel
Shailene Woodley was supposed to play Mary Jane in a Spider-Man movie.
She filmed three scenes with Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker.
About a year later, she learned that her scenes had been removed.
Woodley said filmmakers wanted to focus on Peter and Gwen Stacy first.
She was told Mary Jane would appear after Gwen died.
Gwen does die in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but the planned next movie was never made.
Woodley said she does not know whether that was the complete reason her scenes were cut.
Producer Matt Tolmach separately said the story had become too large.
Garfield later returned as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home but rejected Avengers: Doomsday while remaining open to a stranger future project.
Shailene Woodley filmed three Mary Jane scenes with Andrew Garfield.
She learned roughly a year later that the scenes were cut.
Woodley said filmmakers wanted to focus on Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.
She was told Mary Jane would appear after Gwen Stacy’s death.
Producer Matt Tolmach said the story had become too large to include Mary Jane.
- Who
- Shailene Woodley, Andrew Garfield, director Marc Webb, and producer Matt Tolmach are connected to the decision and its explanation.
- What
- Woodley’s filmed scenes as Mary Jane Watson were cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
- When
- Woodley said she learned about the cut roughly a year after filming; the film was released in 2014.
- Where
- The scenes were filmed for The Amazing Spider-Man 2; the articles do not specify the filming location.
- Why
- Woodley said she was told the filmmakers wanted to focus on Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, while Matt Tolmach said the story had become too large.
Filmmakers’ Reported Explanation
Woodley’s Uncertainty
Why Mary Jane was removed
Filmmakers’ Reported Explanation
Woodley said she was told the film introduced many new characters and would first focus on Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Matt Tolmach said the story had become too large, citing a 148-page script.
Woodley’s Uncertainty
Woodley said she did not know whether that fully explained the decision and joked that the filmmakers might have disliked her performance.
Mary Jane’s planned introduction
Filmmakers’ Reported Explanation
Woodley said the plan was to introduce Mary Jane after Gwen Stacy’s death in a later film.
Woodley’s Uncertainty
The follow-up film was never made, so that planned introduction did not occur.
- Film
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- Release year
- 2014
- Role cut
- Mary Jane Watson, played in filmed scenes by Shailene Woodley
- Scenes filmed
- Three scenes with Andrew Garfield
- Woodley’s explanation
- The filmmakers wanted to wait for Gwen Stacy’s death before introducing Mary Jane.
- Producer’s explanation
- Matt Tolmach said the filmmakers had taken on more story than they could tell.
- Later Garfield appearance
- Andrew Garfield appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
- Future Garfield status
- Garfield rejected Avengers: Doomsday but said he remains open to a very unusual Spider-Man project.
