Shailene Woodley came much closer to becoming Mary Jane than many people remember. 🕷️
The actress was cast to play the character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, alongside Andrew Garfield, and even managed to film several scenes. However, her part was completely cut from the film to focus the story on Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.
Garfield’s saga ended shortly afterward, and that version of Mary Jane never officially made it to the screen. Years later, Spider-Man started from scratch with Tom Holland, and Zendaya was cast as Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson, becoming Peter’s love interest in this new era.
So Shailene did not lose the role to Zendaya, but she was set to be the “MJ” of an earlier generation before the franchise completely changed course.