UPDATE:: In Defense Of Shailene Woodley As Mary Jane Watson

UPDATE:: In Defense Of Shailene Woodley As Mary Jane Watson

Due to recent hate fanboys have been showing Shailene Woodley because of photos of her arriving on set, LEVITIKUZ updates a previous article defending Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson.

Editorial Opinion
By LEVITIKUZ - Feb 28, 2013 12:02 AM EST
All some p**** ***** on the internet can say is “that verse ain’t good, it’s boring” – boring? Really?
-Andre 3000 "Sorry"


It’s been a while since I’ve seen this article. I think that the Andre 3000 line quote is fitting to this discussion about Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane. Now ever since Mary Jane’s first appearance with her one-line “Face it tiger, you’ve hit the jackpot!” Mary Jane Watson has been an important figure in the Spider-Man universe. Since the Spider-Man movies were rebooted, The Amazing Spider-Man was the first Spider-Man movie to not feature Mary Jane. Recently off her success from The Descendants, Shailene Woodley has signed on to play Mary Jane Watson in the Marc Webb reboot series. Like how every time someone gets cast in a superhero movie, fans cried foul. They didn’t like Shailene being Mary Jane. A member on this site called BatmanBlueLantern wrote an article defending Shailene. I liked the article but I thought it was too short. He only gave 2 reasons defending Shailene. Well back up has arrived. I’m going to back up BatmanBlueLantern add more on to why Shailene Woodley is a good pick for Mary Jane Watson. Now most of what I wrote in this first paragraph was from October. It’s almost March. You have seen the first unofficial photos of Woodley as Mary Jane and once again, fanboys dislike it. I decided to rebuff and reedit my previous article and defend Woodley as Mary Jane. Let’s begin.



The First Set of Photos Was Her Coming Out of Bed To The Set of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2


I think most of you are confused about the first set of photos from Woodley. She wasn’t shooting; she was arriving on set that day. She doesn’t have any make up on because that’s the makeup person’s job on set to add make up. She was walking to set in a cold February in New York City. So why are you guys hating again? This isn’t how Mary Jane isn’t going to look in the film and yet comments like “she’s a horrible pick” come up. Last time I checked, one doesn’t judge acting talent based off of photos. The last thing I will say on this reason is there is no, and I repeat NO reason to be as disrespectful as you guys were. No reason what so ever.



She Can Act


Let’s all agree on this fact (for those few that have seen films with her): Shailene can act. Most of you fanboys joke about how much you didn’t like Kirsten Durst performance as Mary Jane. Now they’ve cast someone who can act and now you’re giving her nothing but crap? What makes you happy? Shailene so far has been up for a total of 47 awards for the film The Descendants. She had to act opposite to George Clooney. Even though George was involved in destroying the Batman series, when George has a good script he’s a great actor. Shailene is getting her name up in the world and her in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will help her even more.



We Already Had The 616 MJ That Wants To Be An Actress And Models


Maybe fans complain that they want a Mary Jane that is from the 616 that is an actress and models YOU GUYS ALREADY HAD THAT IN KIRSTEN DURST!!!! Kirsten Durst’s Mary Jane was more of the 616 MJ. She thought about being a model (go re-watch Spider-Man, this was hinted at) and she was an actress. Despite whatever you think about Durst’s Mary Jane, her MJ was faithful to the 616 MJ. Why would you want Woodley’s Mary Jane to be an actress or model when you already had one is beyond me.



She Is Playing The ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN Mary Jane


Since we already have the 616 version of MJ in Durst, Woodley will be the Ultimate Spider-Man version of MJ. In the Ultimate universe, Mary Jane is neither a model nor an actress. Why you guys are always saying that Mary Jane in the film needs to be a model type looking girl is beyond me when she isn't a model in the comics. Ultimate MJ is so far from the 616 MJ. MJ in the Ultimate timeline wants a career in journalism. Ultimate universe Mary Jane tries to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Where do you see model or actress in that? Men lie, women lie, facts don’t.



Look At The Every Female Cast In A Comic Book Movies And Then Their Comic Book Counterpart


Most fans complain that she doesn’t look like Mary Jane from the comics. Every woman from the comics is a big breasted, huge ass, and small waist. Basically that could describe a porn star. Porn stars can’t act and neither can internet models like some people suggest for Mary Jane. Now shut up.



She’s Beautiful


In some of the articles where they talk about her; I'm reading the comments and some of you must be blind. Some of you were so disrespectful. Some of you must be on drugs with some of these comments. This girl is beautiful. If I was to judge her solely based off your comments, you guys are sound like your describing Meg Griffin from Family Guy to play MJ. I would like to see some of you get a girl as attracting as Shailene. "Oh she isn't model hot." She's a fricking actress. You want a model actress? How about Megan Fox? We've all seen her Oscar worthy performances from the Transformers movies. Some of you need to stop staring at nailbiter111's cosplay articles and come back to the real world. Just because this girl won’t be on the cover of a SI Swimsuit Edition doesn’t mean she can’t be MJ or doesn't mean she isn't fine.



The Name Won’t Outshine The Role


I have said this many times and this is important to have in a superhero film. Whenever you cast someone in a major role, try to cast someone whose name isn’t bigger than the role they are playing. I stated that this may be a good reason when I defended why Armie Hammer isn’t a bad choice for Batman and I’m going to state this for Shailene as Mary Jane. When your name isn’t bigger than the role he requires you to focus more on them. Some reason examples of this are Chris Evans as Captain America, Henry Cavill as Superman, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and so far those three actors are doing amazing in their roles.



Fanboys Have Hated Against Every Great Thing In Comic Book Films When They Are Announced


Man why can't comic book fans fricking evolve? Some of you are the same pain in the asses as the comic book fans in the 1980s when Keaton was picked to play Batman. Let's look at a list of castings and directors fanboys have hated on:

Michael Keaton as Batman

Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin (rest in pardise big guy)

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Tom Hardy as Bane

Heath Ledger's Oscar winning performance as Joker when he was cast

Christian Bale as Batman

Chris Evans as Captain America

Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk

Let me give everyone the big one:

FANBOYS HATED JOSS WHEDON BEING PICKED TO DIRECT THE AVENGERS!!!!


Nowadays no one can talk ill of Joss or they will be crucified on this site just because he directed The Avengers. When he was chosen to direct The Avengers, fanboys disliked that!!! Want proof? Click on this “LINK

After seeing this list of decisions fanboys hated, the last people I would ask for their opinion on films are fanboys and that’s the truth.



Mila Kunis Without Makeup


Now this might me my most bizarre point but hear me out. Now I think we all can agree Mila Kunis is hot. Well above you see a photo of her with no makeup next to one of her where she does. In case you guys didn’t know, Mila Kunis tried out for Lois Lane in Man of Steel. Now she may have lost the role, but let’s just saw she did for a second. You guys would judge her appearance based upon the fact she has been in many successful films and some you have seen. You saw Mila in Black Swan. You know she can act. We also saw her in films like Ted, Book of Eli, and many other films. We know she is hot and can act. Now if the photo above was a photo of her arriving at the set of , none of you would overreact. You may make stupid comments about her but you’ve seen her in films so you know how good she is.

Now when Shailene is walking to the set with no makeup, everyone goes into panic mode. You guys say how bad of a casting she was, how she’s ugly, how she sucks. The things about it is most of you probably haven’t seen a film with Shailene so you judge her based on looks and not acting ability. When you cast actresses, one doesn’t look at a photo of someone. You cannot judge a person’s acting ability based off a photo. You have to watch films of the said actress to judge her. Do yourself a favor and watch a movie with Woodley and then come back and comment about her being Mary Jane.

So after reading this, now what are your thoughts and feelings about Shailene being cast as Mary Jane? Do you want to give the girl a chance or are you just going to bash another cashing like the comic book fans before you? Comment below. Peace.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Returns To Theaters On Monday With A Less-Than-Spectacular Box Office Haul
Related:

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Returns To Theaters On Monday With A Less-Than-Spectacular Box Office Haul

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Star Dane DeHaan Talks NO WAY HOME Rumors And Whether He'd Return As Green Goblin
Recommended For You:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Star Dane DeHaan Talks NO WAY HOME Rumors And Whether He'd Return As Green Goblin

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2 3 4
Bandido
Bandido - 10/23/2012, 8:46 PM
Didn't have a problem with her casting when it was just a rumor and I still don't

But ppl will always complain about something...for instance the FIRST iron man 3 trailer just came out and we already have some complaints!

Some people will never learn...but anyways yep! I'll wait and see how it goes when the film comes out

On a sort of unrelated side note...Emma Stone is hotter ;)
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 10/23/2012, 8:51 PM
I think the negativity isn't at all focused on Shailene Woodley - I mean I'd like to think of myself as someone knowledgeable even of obscure actors, but I had no idea this person existed until earlier this month. Likewise, I'm plenty positive the majority of the fanboys didn't either.

Putting myself in the fanboy shoes (not hard), *MY* problem would be that she's not in her late 20s/early 30s. But that is being irrational and petulant, projecting my dislike of this rebooted series' re-imagining of high school. I want an adult Spider-man.

But yeah, I think you nailed it. Fans want something to bitch about.
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 10/23/2012, 9:40 PM
I think she will be a good addition to the franchise. Alot of people have problems with TASM, I don't. I thought it was a great film (not the greatest). It successfullly restarted the Spider-Man franchise and it was a good start to a (hopeful) trilogy.
FirstAvenger
FirstAvenger - 10/23/2012, 10:00 PM
Yeah I don't get it she is hot and a good actress. Good article!
DrHorrible
DrHorrible - 10/23/2012, 10:21 PM
@AcidicHeart I love how you say "mediocre series" after just one movie. That's called counting your eggs before they hatch. Don't be quick to assume that just because you thought TASM was mediocre that the whole move series will be. It just seems very ignorant.

On the topic at hand, I think Shailene is a good choice for MJ. She's not one I would've expected, but I did see her in The Descendants, so my mind is at ease for now on the subject.
SageMode
SageMode - 10/23/2012, 11:33 PM
Its funny seeing all those doubters and haters on that article about the news of Whedon directing THE AVENGERS. Wow. Lol
Spideyguy94
Spideyguy94 - 10/24/2012, 3:08 AM
Great article man honestly people need to stop judging and wait until the movie comes out the same thing happened when Anne Hathaway was cast as catwoman people where saying the same thing. The cool thing to do at the moment is shit on any superhero movie that isn't made by marvel studios or Nolan some people on this site are incredibly dull minded
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/24/2012, 3:16 AM
@ sage

Yeah man, its very funny. But ot just goes to show the amount of people that were not familiar with Whedon. The guy wrote a critically/fan acclaimed series with Astonishing X-Men. I believe he wrote 25 issues of it...over two years of comics, and it has gone down in history as one of the best X-Men runs since Claremont.

Now, who WOULDN'T want someone with those chops working on a superhero team movie? He already proved he knew how to write superheroes, but also superhero teams. Those articles used to piss me off when people would just refer to Whedon as the guy that did Buffy. Like he never did anything else....

People are just ignorant.
Spideyguy94
Spideyguy94 - 10/24/2012, 3:29 AM
Hahaha lol at the amount of people who said that whedon won't make the grade now they're up his ass. I knew whedon was a great choice when i read his astonishing x-men run unstoppable is one of my favourite x-men stories of all time
AC1
AC1 - 10/24/2012, 3:56 AM
"Shailene so far has been up for a total of 47 awards for the film The Descendants and she will likely get an Oscar nomination at the least for her role."

You realise the Descendants was at the last Oscars, right? She wasn't nominated for any Oscars, although she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Don't get me wrong LEVITIKUZ, some of the articles you've written were fun reads, but sometimes you come across as having done no research and basing your articles purely on your own assumptions.

You're saying that this is based on Ultimate Spider-Man. What proof do you have? If anything it should be more like the traditional version, because in the Ultimate comics the roles of MJ and Gwen were reversed - Gwen was the more confident party-girl and MJ was the girl next door type, whereas in the original comics Gwen was the girl next door type and MJ was the confident party-girl. And The Amazing Spider-Man movie portrayed Gwen as the more girl next door character, which means MJ should be the more confident character, or else she'll just be a Gwen knock off.

Plus, as far as looks go, it's not that she's unattractive, it's that she looks so young compared to Andrew Garfield, you can tell there's nearly a decade between them, and that would destroy the believability of the film, because the illusion of Andrew playing a high-school aged Peter would be shattered by such a young looking co-star playing someone who's meant to be the same age. There's a thing in crafting a fictional world in film which is called verisimilitude, which is basically constructing your film world and making it believable to the audience by showing that it's well thought out - it's what allows an audience to suspend disbelief. The blatant age gap between Andrew and Shailene would immediately make that very difficult.

I won't judge until I see the film, but based on my initial thoughts, I am slightly worried.
Spideyguy94
Spideyguy94 - 10/24/2012, 4:50 AM
@ACira I do agree with that in ultimate spider-man they reverse the personalities and gwen is clearly 616 gwen in this series I think they make her look very hot if the make up department does its job make her a rebellious party girl kind of what she was like in the descendants which is what 616 me is
lapress
lapress - 10/24/2012, 6:37 AM
you should probably switch the 616 MJ pics to Ultimate MJ to make your point more valid.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 10/24/2012, 6:38 AM
Heh, ok don't shoot me...

I hadn't seen a whole lot with Robert Downey Jr before, so back then it wasn't really a face I could place. He was more "famous" to me for his DUIs, arrest, and addiction. As LEVITIKUZ pointed out, he was like Charlie Sheen, only more prolific in Hollywood.

When he was cast, I was HORRIFIED. And of course I knew Tony's story long before the movies came out, I just thought you know, they needed an actor who could distance himself from the role.

When I saw the first trailer, I was eating crow. When I saw the first movie, I became an instant fan, and started renting his movies. From there, I vowed not to judge an actor too harshly and give em the benefit of the doubt.
SageMode
SageMode - 10/24/2012, 7:09 AM
CORNDOGBURGLAR

Totally agree man, sometimes it's the unconventional casting choices that are the best. And didn't Whedon win an Eisner Award for his run on ASTONISHING X-MEN?

marvel72
marvel72 - 10/24/2012, 7:18 AM
she can't be any worse than kirsten dunst.
GoILL
GoILL - 10/24/2012, 9:19 AM
For me I will say that i'm more unsure if someone will be good for a role but I never hate when someone is chosen.
MrCameron
MrCameron - 10/24/2012, 7:23 PM
Another great article Levi. Great to see another optimist like me on here amidst all the negativity and hate.
BatmanBlueLantern
BatmanBlueLantern - 10/25/2012, 10:18 AM
Nice article! See you took some inspiration from my article and made it better. Nice!
FirstAvenger
FirstAvenger - 10/25/2012, 7:27 PM
Emma Stone is only 2yrs older than Shailene Woodley.
RobGrizzly
RobGrizzly - 10/27/2012, 7:50 PM
Nice article. I loved her in The Descendants, but she's just not what I had in mind for MJ. Sorry.
rushr
rushr - 10/28/2012, 2:02 PM


LOOKS GOOD TO ME!!
CANT WAIT
bbiz20
bbiz20 - 1/1/2013, 12:42 AM

I think that the reason some people get so angry with casting roles is that the person/ actor does not often look like the part and has never shown at any point that they could portray a certain character accurately. It is a reasonable complaint since, some people are very possessive and fanatic about comic books. After-all, they did spend a lot of hard earned money buying lots of comic books. What they think they deserve and want to see is roles they read about in comics come to life. It explains the harshness. But I am stunned to think anyone could compain about Robert D.J playing Tony Stark since he looks ALOT like him and had acted like him in previous films. Looks like Shailene has a lot to live up to, anyway. Fingers crossed she doesn't suck. :)
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 1/2/2013, 7:29 PM
In all fairness, I haven't heard all that much complaining about her as the role. I'll be the first to admit I had some questions about if she would be up to the task, but I'm sure it will be fine. Jamie Foxx, however, I am incredibly iffy on.
Spideyguy94
Spideyguy94 - 2/27/2013, 3:00 PM
I doubt she will be ultimate Mary Jane considering ultimate gwen and mj are swapped personalities from they're 616 counterparts, and they're clearly doing 616 gwen so doing ultimate mj would make it the same character in a different body. Judging from the set photos she'll likely be the free spirit party girl type much like 616 and the spectacular spidey cartoon.
Spideyguy94
Spideyguy94 - 2/27/2013, 3:06 PM
Dunst was not 616 mj, @ToDandy put it best. She wasn't the party girl type and she didn't have the confidence and wit 616 mj has. The scene that I always point to as to why she wasn't 616 mj is the balcony scene in spider-man 1 when Harry goes to kiss her and she moves out of the way. 616 mj would have said something like hey slow down tiger or something along those lines.
Talon1024
Talon1024 - 2/27/2013, 3:14 PM
Kirsten Durst is too Ugly to be Mary Jane too...
Supermodel/Actress = Mary Jane
Ghostfire
Ghostfire - 2/27/2013, 3:58 PM
I'll reserve my judgement until I see the film,and that's a maybe. Not because of the casting, but because the 1st was a huge let down, at least for me.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/27/2013, 4:01 PM
Damn.
When the Levi breaks, mama, you gotta move.

My opinion hasn't changed one iota though. She looks like a baby, up against 30 year-old Andrew Garfield. In all honesty, YES, I do care about her attractiveness, because regardless of the book you're reading, MJ is supposed to be a true sight to see, a wonder to behold. Whether she's a journalist or a supermodel, Mary Jane Watson is supposed to be the hot girl of the class.

And yet, I could get past that pretty easily. I got over it with Kirsten Dunst, who despite being snaggle-toothed, has BEAUTIFUL eyes and looks great with red hair... but then, I wasn't looking at a high school student playing a graduate.

Levitikuz, you and everyone's mom keep on claiming that porn stars are pretty much the only "people" capable of portraying an identical (or as close to it) image of the characters from the comics, but that is not the area people are critiquing. And yes, they are being unusually (or perhaps that's their norm) cruel... but the focus is Shailene Woodley's face - not her body.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of jabs at her neck, but I don't give a damn. It's a matter of angle, posture, and perspective, and we'll see that "problem" go away, I'm sure.

But again, Shailene Woodley looks like a little kid, and her attractiveness is decidedly "cute", but I don't classify it as beauty. She looks depressed in all of her glamor shots, and her photo-op smiles are obviously very forced. She is no more and no less attractive than Kristen Stewart, although it looks like she has the advantage of being able to breathe through her nose.

Point is - she is a girl.
1 2 3 4
View Recorder