Do you Deserve The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Well i know a lot of us are still torn about The Amazing Spider-Man 1, but we DO know we deserve a good, definitive take on Spider-man in general. Why do we deserve that? Because the Spider-Man film Franchise has made Millions capitalizing on a character a lot of us are passionate about. Spider-man and its characters are a little piece of American-pop that generations have come to love from comics, cartoons and now film.
In response to the casting of Mary Jane, Katey Rich from Cinema Blend.com seems to think "If You Think Shailene Woodley Isn't Pretty Enough For The Amazing Spider-Man 2, You Don't Deserve The Movie". Well that is a pretty bold claim, with a lot of contributing factors. While Katey attempts to demonize comic book fans (and in particular ones on THIS website) who she admittedly sees as "the comic shop owner from the Simpsons" and while I'd love to say i own a comic shop, i am just a fan who thinks Kate from Cinema Blend is missing the point.
Katey casts a light on comic fans as just wanting to see Mary Jane as a "Big Breasted" "nerd's wet dream", because they haven't accepted the casting of Shailene Woodley or as Katey puts it, her "amazing naturalism". Amazing naturalism may work for trendy shows like HBO's Girls, or indie flicks, but not Mary Jane Watson, and here is why, and no it's not some kind of comic book fan insider information.
Mary Jane Watson IS a Model/Actress in the comics. She is suppose to be someone of exceptional beauty that should be too good for Peter Parker, and although that may not be "realistic" as you put it (in a movie about a man who got bit by a spider and now has the powers of a spider) it is also the fabric of her character. That is 50 years of continuity generations of fans have come to accept, and that in itself has a built in expectation for us Spider-man fans and our eagerness to see Hollywood get the character right and unlike Raimi's take on the character, make her interesting.
My point being, I don't think Shailene Woodley is ugly, but many people's first reaction is, she is no Mary Jane. Comic fans don't want a "girl next door" Mary Jane, they want that Spunky knock-out that separates her from characters like Gwen Stacey. Katey at Cinema Blend would put down comic fans for having an opinion but at the same time she seems to harbor resentment towards actual Hollywood vixens.
I personally don't think Emma stone is some amazing beauty but Gwen Stacey is that girl-next-door kind of character and she looks good in the role. Although i think the relationship stuff in Amazing Spider-man lost part of the audience with it's kind of glamorized awkwardness you see in indie rom-coms (we are suppose to believe peter parker is a awkward shlub who can't get Gwen but also like cool skateboarder who fights jocks...if he was any hipper he would be selling pot...okay i have derailed.)
The Spider-man franchise once dominated the comic book movie market. The Webb's Amazing Spider-man seemed to take a couple steps back for every step it took forward that lead to it being mostly over shadowed last year and dare i say, almost under the radar. So why we should trust Webb's judgment or his "realistic take" as you put it, isn't a given. Katey Rich is obviously a fan of Shailene Woodley and cites an experience where she got meet her and was quite taken with her. But as much i can respect Kate's genuine enthusiasm for the actress, Kate should respect the opinions of Spider-man fans and those passionate about the source material. The difference between comic book fans and people who just watch the movies is comic fans know what the average movie goer are missing out on and we want for Spider-man what Marvel has done for their cinematic universe that has made them the biggest thing in comic book movies.
This casting isn't the biggest deal ever, it just doesn't help Spider-man fans lackluster expectations on the series. If the casting doesn't radiate with fans in some way, then your kind of killing the enthusiasm for your movie. Whether or not Shailene Woodley looks or acts the part in the actual movie and changes people's minds is a possibility, but telling the fans what they deserve is not something for anyone to decide but them.