The "Amazing Spider-Man 2" fallout continues even after the movie has left theaters. While the fan base is rabid, the second film from Marc Webb has left Webheads concerned over the franchise's future.
Now with the departure of writer/producer Roberto Orci, fans will have to play the waiting game to see what happens next in the franchise from Sony.
The website Badass Digest has gotten its hands on the initial script for "Amazing Spider-Man 2," and writer Devin Faraci has revealed that the film was supposed to be much different than what fans saw. It is normal for a big film to undergo changes on the fly, but the events cut from the script wound up having a huge impact on the final product.
The biggest change was the complete removal of the Mary Jane Watson character. Every Spidey fan worth their salt knows that Mary Jane Watson is a major deal in the comics, which is why it was front-page news when "Divergent" actress Shailene Woodley was cast as the famous redhead.
As the production was underway, news spread that the actress filmed all of her scenes for the film. The love triangle between Peter Parker, Gwen Stacey and Mary Jane looked to be set. However, news soon broke that despite Woodley shooting all of her scenes as MJ, every last frame the actress was in was cut from the film. Many speculated that the scenes would be in the third installment of the franchise, but now that another film is in jeopardy, we may never see any Mary Jane scenes.
"At the end of the script Gwen comes to Peter's house before heading to London; he's gone but she meets the new neighbor. They have a friendly exchange and MJ says that she always attracts dickheads and asks Gwen what her advice is to get a guy like Peter. 'Date a nerd,' Gwen says before heading off to die, basically giving MJ the okay to get with Peter," Faraci wrote on BadassDigest.com.
The site also points out that one other famous character that was cut from the initial script was Peter Parker's boss at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson. Supposedly Jameson and Parker had a scene where the Editor-in-Chief gives Peter a tour of the famed Daily Bugle after complaing about the Internet killing the newspaper business. It seemed like a small scene, but it would have been important for longtime fans to see Jameson back on the screen.
As the Internet continues to buzz with rumors about the fate of the franchise, fans anxiously wait for news of its future. The sequel did not perform nearly as well as studio execs had hoped, leaving the fate of the series in peril.
With each successive "Spider-Man" film, the grosses have steadily gone down from where they were during the Sam Raimi trilogy. Sony doesn't have many high-profile franchises under its umbrella, so it's vital to the studio's long-term success that the producers fix Spider-Man before audiences completely tune out.
