Shailene Woodley Will Join 'Amazing Spider-Man' Sequels, Set Up 'Death of Gwen Stacy' Story

Spoilers? I dunno, can you spoil a Spider-Man story that's been around since 1973? The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Shailene Woodley will join The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Mary Jane Watson. This isn't a surprise, but the big news is that Woodley's role will be a small one that sets Mary Jane up for a second sequel — a sequel that brings the Death of Gwen Stacy story to the big screen.

Woodley initially had scheduling issues as an obstacle to the dealmaking, having had offers to play both Mary Jane and the Divergent lead. But the Mary Jane role is proving to be only a very small part in Amazing Spider-Man 2 but blossoms into an integral lead for the planned third movie as the studio seeks to build to the classic "Death of Gwen Stacy" story.

This news, combined with the rumors that Electro will be the villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, gives me the feeling that my original idea this sequel would introduce the Green Goblin, kill of Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy and set up Mary Jane for the final film of a trilogy. It now looks like this story will come to fruition in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which would be like the original Star Wars trilogy ending with The Empire Strikes Back. Do we really want to go out on such dark terms?