Ben Affleck has worked with Kevin Smith numerous times — Mallrats, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — but not since 2006’s Clerks II. In fact, the ex-pals haven’t spoken to each other in years. The fractured relationship is due to “one of us [having] a big mouth and [telling] too many candid stories that sometimes weren’t his to tell,” Smith explained, “and the other one is Ben.” The Jay and Silent Reboot writer and director (who defended Affleck’s “unfairly maligned” Batman) also admitted that “I don’t think I pop up on his radar nearly as much he pops up on my radar. But I try honestly [to] limit the amount that I do talk about him… I know it always brings him grief or heartache in some way.”
Maybe the healing has begun?
While promoting Triple Frontier, his Netflix movie with Oscar Isaac, Jax Teller, and the Red Viper, Affleck was asked whether his characters from Mallrats (Shannon Hamilton) or Chasing Amy (Holden McNeil) will show up in Reboot. “Your guess is a good as mine. I haven’t been asked to make an appearance, but you never know, there’s still time. We’ll see,” he replied. “I think if it was up to me, I would rather do Holden than Shannon, but I would defer to Kevin.”
It’s never too late to reboot a friendship. Feel free to use that as a tagline, Kevin Smith. Anyway, time will tell whether Affleck can fit a Reboot cameo into his packed-but-not-packed-with-Batman-movies schedule, but another superhero will be in the film. Following the surprise Mallrats shout-out in Captain Marvel, Smith is re-paying a favor to the House That Stan Lee Built.
“Since @captainmarvelofficial made me and #Mallrats a part of the @marvelstudiosUniverse, Brodie Bruce – the @marvelmaniac from Mallrats who met @therealstanlee – offers a#viewaskewniverse holla back to #captainmarvel when @jayandsilentbobReboot Reboot!” the Instagram caption reads, or for those who can’t deal with hashtags: Brodie from Mallrats (played by Jason Lee), who met Stan Lee in the 1995 comedy (the same year Captain Marvel takes place) will pick up a copy of Captain Marvel in Reboot. Meta!
(Via Collider)
