From Kirsten Dunst to Emma Stone to Zendaya, the Spider-Man movies have featured a rather terrific run of actresses playing the lead female role… but the casting process for those kinds of parts are always extensive, and it creates all kinds of “what if” scenarios. For example, what would have happened if Kate Hudson had played Mary Jane in the Sam Raimi-directed films? It easily could have happened… had the actress not made the call to turn the job down.
Hudson, who is currently promoting her new film Song Sung Blue, recently made an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, and she was asked directly by host Andy Cohen about her past connection to everyone’s favorite neighborhood superhero. A fan submitted a question asking if she had at one point turned down the role of Mary Jane, and in confirming the story, the actress explained why she doesn’t have any regrets about it. Said Hudson,
You know, it’s so funny: when people say these things, it doesn’t feel good to talk about it, because the people in the movie are the right people, and circumstances in life happen the way they happen. But yes, I did. It’s one of those things where I look back like, ‘That would have been nice to be in a Spider-Man movie.’ But at the same time, I did a movie called Four Feathers. I got to meet Heath Ledger, who became a very good friend, and I got an experience that I would have never had.
Directed by Shekhar Kapur, The Four Feathers was a historical drama that came out the same year as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (the year 2002), and it probably goes without saying that the film didn’t quite make the same kind of pop culture impact that the superhero movie did. That being said, Hudson is indeed part of a wonderful ensemble in the movie, which includes not only the mentioned Heath Ledger, but also Djimon Hounsou, Wes Bentley and Michael Sheen.
In the 20-plus years since then, Kate Hudson has not yet gotten her superhero movie opportunity – though she has been a part of a couple of franchise films, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and doing a voice in Kung Fu Panda 3. She doesn’t seem to have any kind of overwhelming regret about her choice, addressing the subject with a “c'est la vie” cadence, though she does admit that a part of her wonders what she missed out on. She added,
A part of me is like, ‘Life happens exactly the way it’s supposed to. And so, I’m grateful for it. But I do look at it and I’m like, ‘Aw, it would have been fun to be her.’
Perhaps it’s not too late to cast Kate Hudson for a cameo in the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse? It could be a fun idea to include for die hard fans akin to having Channing Tatum finally getting the chance to play the role of Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine. The animated sequel isn’t arriving until June 2027, so one would think that there could be time for the production to perhaps squeeze her in, and it would be cool for her to have the experience that she once turned down.
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