In recent years, Kevin Smith's directorial endeavors have included movies like Tusk and Yoga Hosers, as well as helping out on TV shows like The Flash, Supergirl and The Goldbergs. But in a few weeks, he'll be returning to his classic View Askewniverse with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Outside of Smith and Jason Mewes (of course) reprising the weed-dealing, heterosexual life mates, there were no specific actors mentioned to appear when Smith initially announced the movie. But Clerks actor Brian O'Halloran has now confirmed that he will be back to play Dante Hicks, and that won't be the extent of his involvement, either. O'Halloran revealed:
Yes, I'm definitely going to be a part of that. We're going to have a couple of very funny bits with the Kevin Smith characters that I've portrayed. I've portrayed a number of them at this point, so I think we're going to bring a variety of them back.
Brian O'Halloran was originally supposed to reprise Dante Hicks in the long-awaited Clerks III, but Kevin Smith revealed earlier this year that the threequel fell through after one of the other three leads dropped out. Fortunately for longtime Kevin Smith fans, O'Halloran will return for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, the first View Askewniverse entry since Clerks II was released in 2006. Presumably we can expect to see Dante behind the Quick Stop counter, and hopefully after all this time, he can stay calm about having to occasionally come in on his day off.
In addition to playing Dante Hicks, Brian O'Halloran also made minor appearances in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse movies as other members of the extended Hicks family; specifically Gil Hicks in Mallrats, Jim Hicks in Chasing Amy and Grant Hicks in Dogma. These characters certainly weren't important to the plots of those other movies, but they could certainly work as a fun gag for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, as O'Halloran teased to Comicbook.com. Of course, longtime Kevin Smith fans know that O'Halloran isn't the only actor who has played multiple roles for the director, with others including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck and Ethan Suplee.
For those who need a refresher on 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the eponymous duo traveled to Hollywood to try to stop the Bluntman and Chronic movie from being made, as they feared that because they were the inspirations for the comic book characters, their images would be ruined. They were unsuccessful, and eventually settled with receiving their share of royalties. More than 15 years later, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will see Jay and Bob trying to pull off this scheme a second time after learning that a Bluntman and Chronic reboot is in the works.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will begin production later this fall, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on its progress.
