U2 News and Discussion

It’s March 11th and although Venom and Doctor Octopus have their appeal, Mysterio is still my favorite Spider-Man villain.

There been no word as to whether or not Mysterio will appear in the ever-upcoming Broadway show, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. However, confirmation came yesterday that the cast won’t include Evan Rachel Wood.

Producers acknowledged in a statement that the actress, who had been cast as Mary Jane Watson last year, had left due to a scheduling conflict. As Variety reports, re-casting is already underway.

Wood’s departure doesn’t strike me as all that surprising. Yes, the production has big names (Bono and Edge, Julie Taymor, Alan Cumming and until recently Wood) and a big budget ($50M+). But then there’s the big budget issues, the numerous delays and the big names’ potential success in non-Spidey fields. It was only so long before the show would become less an opportunity and more an entanglement for one of the leads.

Although no small setback, I doubt this will herald the end for the musical. All the money going into this project would seem to ensure the show will go on somehow. But more than that, there’s still a ton of talent involved. Whether it’s “realizing her creative vision” or more humbly “putting on a good show,” director Taymor has earned her superlatives. Plus, the capped and begoggled songwriters adopted a “no singing in tights” rule very early on.

As for how new-for-the-musical villain Swiss Miss will fare — or, for that matter, how Taymor will escape lawsuits from a certain cocoa corp? Hard to say. But if quality content can redeem a title as head-scratching as “No Line on the Horizon,” I’m sure the same can happen for Swiss Miss.

Banner image from Peter Parker Takes Texas! at Theatre Under The Stars.