Sarah Gadon Joins 'The Amazing Spider-Man', But Is She Mary Jane Watson?

It's been a week of major changes to The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, and frankly it seems as if Sony and Marc Webb are flying by the seat of their pants. It was all sparked by the confirmation of not only a third film but a fourth, which left the door open to an expansion of the overall story. That led to the decision to remove Shailene Woodley's Mary Jane Watson character from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with plans for the character to instead surface in the next one, but then we began hearing of the likelihood that Woodley wouldn't return at all. It was all extremely sudden, and now we may have discovered another reason why they were so willing to part ways with Woodley.

Movieweb began spreading the word that Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis) could be a part of the franchise, replacing Woodley as MJ, but it was Entertainment Tonight Canada who were more definitive, saying  Gadon "confirmed to us that she is joining The Amazing Spider-Man franchise."

The Wrap's Jeff Sneider, who tends to have very good instincts and sources on these things, came out and shot it down in rapid fashion...

"Being told that reports of Sarah Gadon being cast as Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man 2 are NOT TRUE!"

So who's right on this one? There's no reason to believe Gadon is pulling a fast one, so we can take her at her word that she will be in the series in some capacity. But at the same time, why would Sony be so quick to cast MJ for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which doesn't open until 2016?  Hopefully this doesn't mean Gadon is playing yet another new character in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  My gut tells me Gadon is playing MJ, because the timing is just a little too perfect to be a coincidence. She's certainly got the glamorous, cover girl look that defines the character. But assuming she's not MJ, who else could she possibly be?