Spider-Man: Evan Rachel Wood tells IESB.net that she has been cast as 'Mary Jane'

In an interview with IESB.net, 21 year old actress Evan Rachel Wood told the movie website that she will make her Broadway debut as 'Mary Jane' in the upcoming musical based on comic book hero Spider-Man, and that rehearsals for the show will start in June 2009.

If rehearsals do start in June 2009, this would confirm Marvel Chairman David Maisel's statement, made when he addressed the Thomas Weisel Consumer Conference in New York in Sep 2008, that the musical may begin performances on Broadway late 2009.

When asked if Jim Sturgess, her 'Across the Universe' co-star, had been cast as Peter Parker, Wood replied that they are, "still trying to convince him." Both Wood and Sturgess played the roles in a workshop of the musical held in New York in 2007.

There has been no official announcement confirming casting.

Evan Rachel Wood began her career by appearing in 1990's TV programmes, such as 'American Gothic' and 'Once and Again.' Her first film in which she starred as a leading actress was 'Little Secrets' (2002). Other film credits include: 'Thirteen,' 'Pretty Persuasion (2005), Down in the Valley (2006), Running With Scissors (2006), and 'Across the Universe.' She can be seen in the recently released film "The Wrestler.'

Spider-Man has music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge from U2, and a book by Glen Berger and Julie Taymor.

Bono and The Edge have written for the stage before, composing songs for a Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'A Clockwork Orange' in the 1990s.

The show will be directed by Julie Taymor, who was the first female director to receive a Tony for Best director for her work in Walt Disney's Broadway musical, The Lion King.

Little is known about the plot for Spider-Man, though a reading of the musical in New York on 12 and 13 Jul 2007 included the characters 'Peter Parker/Spider-Man,' his love interest 'Mary Jane,' super-villain 'Norman Osborn/Green Goblin,' and 'J. Jonah Jameson,' publisher of The Daily Bugle.

A Variety report in Apr 2007 said the musical would include two villains "Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, and the seductive she-Spidey Arachne. Also in the mix is something called a 'Geek Chorus,' a group of comicbook fanboys (and a token fangirl)."

Spider-Man will be produced by Marvel Entertainment in association with Hello Entertainmet, David Garfinkle and Martin McCallum.