Jay & Silent Bob happened thanks to the appearance of Kevin Smith

Before the dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise’s films were made in a largely improvised manner. Nowadays, we’re used to studios and filmmakers having a multi-year plan for an interlocking series of films and their respective franchises, and while this system can create some very rewarding emotional and narrative payoffs, it doesn’t allow for the freedom of spontaneity to the same extent. Thanks to this freedom, filmmakers were able to follow their muse to places they had never thought to go before, and it wasn’t just characters or moments that were quickly thought of; In some cases, an entire film has come into existence based on a chance encounter.

That’s exactly what happened to Kevin Smith during his early filmmaking years in the View Askewniverse, named after the View Askew production company he created when he started making films. Initially, these films were mostly interconnected in an Easter egg fashion, with the only essential connective tissue being the appearance of Smith’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meets Laurel and Hardy (with a dash of Sheesh and Chung), the duo from Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself) are in each movie. Eventually, Jay and Silent Bob began appearing in other films and television that were not made by Smith and were not explicitly part of the View Askewniverse, although the characters’ existence clearly opened the door for loose inclusion.

It was one of these films “Scream 3” directed by Wes Craven. With the comedy duo included in a cameo as part of this franchise’s continued embrace of blurring the lines between real life and real life. While filming this short, Smith had a bit of a mystique regarding his films, which led to him writing and directing the fifth View Askew film, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” which itself brought the Askewniverse into a more cohesive world. all.

Jay and Silent Bob’s appearance in Scream 3 was not part of any master plan by Smith, Craven, or anyone else involved with the film. It so happens that both Smith and the “Scream” movie were under the Miramax/Dimension Films banner, and according to A recent interview with Smith for Entertainment Weeklyit was the people at the studio who thought of the cameo appearing:

“So, we asked the people at Miramax, ‘Hey man, do you want to be in the next ‘Scream’ movie as Jay and Silent Bob?’ And they were like, ‘Wes is interested,’ meaning Craven.”

When shooting a cameo scene, Jay and Silent Bob bump into Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) while touring the studio where “Stab 3” is being filmed.Smith couldn’t help but marvel at how fresh his characters sounded among the soundstage. As he recalls:

“And you have to remember most of the movies I’ve made, all the movies I’ve made, none of them have been around very much. So as we were walking around the sound stages, I said, ‘This is going to be ridiculous, man.'” – Make an entire movie as if you were on a sound stage …Jay and Silent Bob hanging around and stuff like that.’ Hence “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

Although “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” was not entirely shot in and around soundstages, Smith made sure to write a long scene for the film in which the duo storm the Miramax set, thus fulfilling the vision he had. “Scream 3” group.

The majority of cameos seen in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” consist of the show’s former Askewniverse characters and the actors who play them — Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Alanis Morissette among them — or the Smiths’ comic culture heroes and nerds. , such as Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill from “Star Wars,” and stand-up comedy legend George Carlin. So, although Wes Craven’s appearance in the film may seem out of place on paper, it makes sense when one realizes that this was Smith’s way of repaying the director for the indirect inspiration he provided. In true meta fashion, Craven showed up as himself, directing “Scream 4” (a full decade before “Scream 4”) in which an orangutan known as Susan somehow plays Ghostface. Smith was keen to praise in his interview:

“That’s why Wes Craven was in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” “I paid him back.”

As Smith says, all of this means that Jay and Silent Bob aren’t just part of the View Askewniverse, but they’re also part of “Scream” franchise.as well as the “Degrassi” series (appearing in “Degrassi: The Next Generation”) and the DC Comics TV Arrowverse, where they appeared as security guards in an episode of “The Flash.” If Kevin Smith had not been open to spontaneity, neither he nor his creativity would have been able to flourish as much as they have. While the beloved duo’s most recent appearances have been moved to “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” and “Clerks III,” keep your eyes peeled; The doors are open for Jay and Silent Bob Hit almost anywhere after that.