Lost in all the bits about the possibilities of Sally Field and Martin Sheen being cast as Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot was this little nugget of rumor/information from The Wrap:
Meanwhile, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap that Mary Jane Watson will not appear in the film after all, as the character is not currently featured in James Vanderbilt’s screenplay, and apparently never was.
Back in September, Deal Central reported that Mary Jane would appear in the new “Spider-Man,” as the script featured two love interests competing for the affections Peter Parker. However, that wasn’t quite true.
Evidently, there had been some discussions about Emma Stone playing red-haired MJ, but once she was cast as Gwen Stacy, the filmmakers decided to trust their instincts and stick with one love interest.
Personally, I would love for them to just stick to the Gwen Stacy/Peter Parker romance for this first film. I’m not sure if they have plans to kill her off in future movies, but I always thought her death was just as big of an impact in forming Peter’s life as Uncle Ben’s. To build this up appropriately, I would really like to see them spend a whole movie and a half or so building up their relationship before even introducing Mary Jane. No matter their plans with her, I’m glad we finally have a film focusing on a different love interest for Peter and I hope they do the character justice with Emma Stone.