Just a few days ago, director Kevin Smith’s second movie, Mallrats, celebrated its 25th anniversary. With the filmmaker having recently returned to his View Askewniverse through Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, he’s gearing up to jump back into this shared continuity through Mallrats 2, which was initially envisioned as a movie, then shifted to a TV series, and is now back to being a movie.
Among the many familiar faces returning for Mallrats 2, a.k.a. Twilight of the Mallrats, is Ben Affleck, who will reprise Shannon Hamilton, who was arrested and sent to prison for statutory rape at the end of the original Mallrats. But Shannon is no longer behind bars when the events of Mallrats 2 unfold. Here’s what Kevin Smith had to say about what’s in store for Ben Affleck’s character:
But the thing that I’m most tickled about is how Shannon Hamilton (Ben Affleck) and his crime from back in the day figures into the current climate. Shannon comes back as Senator Shannon Hamilton, and so his redemption arc begins before our movie even begins. His political redemption arc is pretty funny.
Kevin Smith provided the above information after being asked by THR if Mallrats 2 would have to do any kind of retconning, namely with Mallrats’ epilogue revealing that Jason Lee’s Brodie Bruce becoming the host of The Tonight Show, but then being seen later in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot running a comic book store. Smith said that career change factors into Mallrats 2’s plot, leading him to then reveal how Ben Affleck’s Shannon Hamilton is doing rather well for himself when the sequel begins, but is still grappling with his horrendous actions from more than two decades earlier.
Shannon Hamilton was the first of four characters who Ben Affleck played in Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse. Affleck notably starred as Holden McNeil in Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, while Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back also saw Affleck cameoing as himself, and Clerks II saw him playing a character simply credited as “Gawking Guy.” Affleck and Smith also worked together on Jersey Girls, though that was a self-contained movie.
After Kevin Smith was unable to find any network or streaming takers for his Mallrats TV series, the project was set aside, but at the beginning of 2020, Smith announced that Mallrats 2 was back in development as a movie, albeit in a different form. In addition to Twilight of the Mallrats, Smith also plans to keep the View Askewniverse going with Clerks III, which will have a much different story compared to what the filmmaker wrote last decade.
Along with Ben Affleck, it’s been confirmed that Jason Lee and Shannen Doherty will reprise Brodie Bruce and Rene Mosier, respectively. As for new faces, A.P. Bio’s Aparna Brielle, who previously appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot as Jihad, has been cast as Banner Bruce, Brodie’s daughter.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how Mallrats 2 is coming along, and learn what movies are supposed to play on the big screen in the near future with our 2021 release schedule.
