Badass Digest have seemingly got their hands on an earlier version of The Amazing Spider-Man 2's screenplay as they've listed 10 of the biggest alterations between that and the movie, shedding some light on what could have been and why so many scenes felt out of place or simply didn't make sense. Perhaps the biggest shock and "WTF?" moment here is the fact that Richard Parker was originally set to make a return at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, there's no mention of that deleted after-credits scene with Norman Osborn's decapitated head, so who knows what that was all about! As you may have heard, The Amazing Spider-Man franchise is currently in limbo, so we'll have to wait and see if any of what is mentioned below is used further down the line...
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Mary Jane. As we all know Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary Jane Watson, shot some days and then was cut from the movie. The original script includes all of the MJ scenes, and she's introduced as the Parker's new next door neighbor. Her dad is an abusive drunk and she's a waitress who builds motorcycles in her spare time. She has a Spider-Man tattoo on her wrist, and she's clearly interested in Peter, who is totally hung up on Gwen. At one point Spider-Man confronts MJ's dad, telling him to lay off the girl. 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.
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J Jonah Jameson. JJJ's in the original script, as is Robbie Robertson. We see Peter, who is a student at Empire State University, bring his first Spider-Man pictures to JJJ, who gives him a tour of the Daily Bugle. JJJ complains that the internet is killing the newspaper business; later, Spidey and Electro's first fight send them crashing through the Daily Bugle offices and the printing presses.
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Peter's blood. In the original script Peter actually gives his blood to Harry Osborn. This is a huge improvement over the finished film, where Harry just injects himself with spider venom. In the original script the Goblin suit is better explained - it isn't for military use but was specifically built in secret for Norman Osborn. When Richard Parker wouldn't give his blood to Osborn (the Parker DNA still being the key to it all), the suit went into Norman's boathouse where Harry finds it.
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The death of Gwen Stacy. It plays out mostly the same in the original script... but Gwen, back broken, hangs on to life long enough to demand that Peter never give up. Because this is the same character who promptly broke his promise to Captain Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter quits being Spider-Man in the next scene.
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"With great power..." The finished film has a terrible bit at the end where Peter quits Spider-Man for a bunch of months, and this time passes by in a montage. The same thing happens here! But instead of finding a tape of Gwen's super on-the-nose graduation speech, Peter is approached by... his dad! Yes, Richard Parker shows back up at the end of the script, and he tells Peter he's been watching him for years. He's seen him become Spider-Man and everything. It's Richard who convinces Peter to become Spider-Man again, and in his last scene in the movie he tells Pete "With great power comes great responsibility," FINALLY working the famous phrase into this new series.
The site also reveals that Dr. Ratha was set to take on the exact same role as Donald Menken in the original draft despite being killed off in one of The Amazing Spider-Man's deleted scenes. This obviously would have made the movie a lot more connected to the first one and Colm Feore could have been saved for a much more interesting and significant role (The Vulture for example). Details on Max Dillon's mother, Dr. Kafka, Electro and Harry Osborn's original team-up and much more, be sure to click on the link below! What do you think about these potential story changes?
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