Today is full of good news for Shailene Woodley, as First Showing reports that the actress has been confirmed as Mary Jane Watson for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and is also in talks to star in the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s young adult novel Divergent.
Woodley made a major splash onto the scene with a spectacular performance in The Descendants, but it looks like 2014 could propel her career to new heights, and away from her soap opera level role in The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
Being cast as Mary Jane is huge. Just last week we got the news that Mary Jane would be included in Marc Webb‘s trilogy, and that Woodley was the top candidate for the role. Woodley’s youthful look plays into a younger Mary Jane than the original trilogy, so likely the plot is picking up right where the first film ended.
Bringing Mary Jane into the story raises the question of whether Webb is sticking to the comic story and killing off the beloved Gwen Stacy. The answer is yes, and we have that story for you as well.
The other major project Woodley is in talks for is Divergent. The book is the first in a series, so if the film does well, this could lead to a whole franchise with Woodley as the star. The film is being directed by Neil Burger, with production beginning as early as March with the goal of an early 2014 release. Check out a synopsis for the book below.
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
What do you think of Shailene Woodley as Mary-Jane? How about as the lead in Divergent? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
