It’s a bit of surprise, but we now have news that the character of Mary Jane Watson will not be appearing in director Marc Webb’s (500 Days of Summer) upcoming 3D Spider-Man reboot. We’ve been hearing that the new film would feature two love interests for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) for awhile now, but that Mary Jane Watson would not be the lead female role, and that she would be a minimal role in the film if she were to appear at all. We’ve since learned that Emma Stone (Easy A) has been cast as Gwen Stacy and would be both the lead female role and main love interest in the film.
I’ve since assumed that Watson would be appearing in the film in a minimal role, which would be enhanced in the inevitable sequel, but The Wrap is now reporting that Watson will not be appearing in the film at all since “the character is not currently featured in James Vanderbilt’s (Zodiac) screenplay, and apparently never was.” Spider-Man without Mary Jane Watson to me is like Superman without Lois Lane, so I’m curious to see how fans of the comic book character will react to this news. You can hit the jump to leave your thoughts in the comments below and to get a recap of what we know about the upcoming Spider-Man reboot.
With the project set to begin production in December, we’ve been getting a steady stream of news regarding the Spider-Man reboot. Yesterday, we learned that Martin Sheen has been cast as Uncle Ben and that Sally Field will be playing the role of Aunt May. We also know that Rhys Ifans will be playing The Lizard in the film. Meanwhile, the role of J. Jonah Jameson might be played by either John Slattery or Sam Elliot.
The Spider-Man 3D reboot is set to hit theaters on July 3, 2012.
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Gwen Stacy was Peter Parker’s love interest before Mary Jane, so this actually makes more sense.
Not a surprise at all. You guys need to watch the Spectacular Spiderman series. This movie will be following that cartoon quite a bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spectacular_Spider-Man_%28TV_series%29
Fans would be fine because Gwen Stacy is before Mary Jane. And Superman has been without Lois Lane in the early seasons of Smallville for example. Fans were cool with that too as long as it stays in canon.
must be when gwen and spidey were in love. hmmmm, are they going to kill her off?
This is what I am hoping for too. It would definitely be ballsy and would make his future relationship with Mary Jane have more of an emotional weight to Parker/Spider-Man
This is what I get for waking up late. Yeah anyone who has read a Spidey book knows that MJ is the second. Gwen makes more sense and I would love to think they would cover that whole story.
This is what I get for waking up late. Yeah anyone who has read a Spidey book knows that MJ is the second. Gwen makes more sense and I would love to think they would cover that whole story.
umm actually Gwen came before Mary as his main loved interest/tragedy, so i am more than ok with this decision at least they will be following the real beginnings to Parkers adult/spider-man hood. Seems if this new franchise becomes successful they will need great writers or more than three movies to bring about the eventual inclusion of the Loss of Gwen and the introduction of mary…….. im geekign out just think about it this films seems promising minus the 3d part.
“Like Superman without Lois Lane” !
Your kidding right?! For those of us who know and who were alive. Before there was Mary Jane there was Gwen Stacy. When they decided to kill Gwen that went down badly with the fans.
Lois has always been there, she debuted in June of 1938 like Superman did.
I like Mary Jane but making Gwen the love interest and no Mary Jane ever in the script that’s nice.
Just to be make myself clear…I know that Gwen Stacy came first. I know that I, and a lot of other comic book readers, know that. I’m just not so sure that mainstream America and the rest of the world know that. It’s because of this that I always envision every Spider-Man film having Mary Jane somehow in the mix. That’s why I thought that she would be in the background at least in the film in order to set her up for the sequel. Anyways, I applaud Webb for sticking so closely to the canon, even if a lot of people will be all “Where’s Mary Jane?!”
“so I’m curious to see how fans of the comic book character will react to this news.”, “I know that Gwen Stacy came first”
Sure ya do bud, sure ya do.
I think some are missing the point the article is trying make. Yes, in terms of Spider-Man comic book canon, Gwen Stacy was Peter’s primary love interest before Mary Jane (even though, technically, MJ appeared BEFORE Gwen was introduced, we just never actually saw what she looked like until issue #42) so one can appreciate Vanderbilt seemingly sticking closer to the source material. However, sooner or later, the audience is going wonder when Mary Jane is going to make an appearance in these reboot movies. Because like it or not, the character of Mary Jane Watson, in the eyes of popular culture (including those who are not regular readers of the comic whom the movie has to appeal to besides the comic book readers if they want to get their butts in the theater), is widely more recognized as Spider-Man’s love interest than Gwen Stacy ever was.
The Spectacular Spider-Man comment is genius. This movie should be based off that Parker and those stories. That’s the best Spider-Man, and closest to the original.
The whole idea of this reboot upsets me. I can understand rebooting Hulk. They needed a new one to tie into the Marvel universe and the first was a disaster. Spider-Man had a hit trilogy though. Debate the quality of film 3 all you want, they were ALL successes. To have a remake come out ten years after the first is ridiculous, especially when you consider Mission Impossible has it’s fourth film coming out fifteen and a half years after the original and people still like that series
>Fans (like myself who have followed the storyline for years) Will be estatic. We know that Gwen Stacy was Peter’s first huge love interest and that Mary Jane came along later.
>I’m really hoping that this reboot will set Spidey’s story straight without the brutal massacring of the storyline, like the first 3 did. (I’m not saying that they weren’t good movies, but they were just so disappointing from a fan base point of view. ) and I’m hoping for better acting from all parties. (Nothing personal against McGuire, but I DESPISED him as Peter Parker and don’t get me started on Dunst.) But in my opinion, this is what they should have done in the first place, fresh new faces that fit the characters a lot better.
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It’s totally fine to give a new perspective in this reboot but that should not come at the cost of the fans who inevitably will decide the films success. Mary Jane has been an absolute necessity for anything involving spiderman… I can understand leaving her out at first because Gwen did appear first in the comics. However she is needed because that is what the fans want otherwise suffer the same ridicule that Joe Quesada did when he tried to upset the history of spider man.
Ok most people have pointed out that Gwen was the love interest waaay before MJ. One point, however, has not been really emphasized on this site. With all the talk of remaining true to the source material, fans seem to be forgetting what Spiderman is really all about.
Spiderman is about Peter Parker and his everyman/hard luck hero problems and hang ups! I actually think that by the end of the 3rd movie, some people walked away with the misunderstanding that Spidey was a together forever love story between Pete and MJ. Yes, Spdey’s love life and relationships are very important, but in a different context. Being Spiderman actually drives a wedge between he and many of his relationships, as well as causing unintended collateral damage. This is not to say that Pete shouldn’t ever experience happiness, but it’s tempered by the fact that another hang-up is just around the corner.
Spidey is the superhero version of Charlie Brown. Like ol’ Charlie, Peter Parker is the ultimate optimist. Spidey always thinks that things are going to get better, ( even though sometimes they get worse ) and this is what really makes him a winner! Charlie Brown NEVER kicked the football ( to Charles Shultz everlasting credit) but he kept trying. Peter Parker perseveres, ends up beating the bad guy and takes all his problems on the chin with the hope of a brighter tomorrow.
This has been the essence and concept of Spidey since Stan Lee created him…. and don’t give me ” Spiderman has several possible versions due to his rich and varied history.” Bullshit! Many good writers have tried to give their particular interpretation of Spidey, but they’ve been faithful to the character’s everyman archtype. This is what makes Spidey great and it’s a timeless concept. Most of all, this is great for the movies. People empathized with Peter Parker and his everyday problems in the first movie. They got it! He didn’t hook up with MJ at the end and audiences came to see the film in droves.
I think this will be a mistake. Their relationship has been the main reason of motivation to “Peter Parker” in the previous films. This needs to be resolved. it would look like something is missing if not given closure.