Shailene Woodley no longer featured in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Actress Shailene Woodley has been cut from the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man sequel after producers decided to delay the introduction of her character, Mary Jane Watson, until later in the film franchise.

The Descendants star shot scenes with Andrew Garfield earlier this year (13), but she will no longer feature in the 2014 release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Instead, Woodley's character will make her debut in a planned third installment of director Marc Webb's movie series.

She tells Entertainment Weekly, "Of course I'm bummed. But I am a firm believer in everything happening for a specific reason. MJ (Mary Jane) only appeared in a few scenes and I wouldn't trade the experience of working with Andrew and Emma (Stone as Gwen Stacy) for three days on set for the world. Based on the proposed plot, I completely understand the need for holding off on introducing MJ until the next film."

The news emerges a day after Sony Pictures executives announced that Garfield had signed on for two more outings as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, which will hit cinemas in 2016 and 2018.