The Jay and Silent Bob movie happened thanks to a Kevin Smith Cameo

Before the dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, franchise films were made in a much more improvised way. These days, we're used to studios and filmmakers having a multi-year plan for interconnected film series and their respective franchises, and while this system can create highly rewarding emotional and narrative experiences, it doesn't allow for the freedom of spontaneity. With that freedom, the filmmakers were able to follow their muse to places they hadn't thought to go before, and they weren't just characters or moments made up on the fly; in some cases, an entire film was born out of a chance encounter.

That's exactly what happened to Kevin Smith during his elementary school years creating the View Askewniverse, named after the View Askew production company he started when he started making movies. Initially, these films were mostly interconnected in the form of more Easter eggs, with the only primary connective tissue being Smith Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meeting Laurel and Hardy (with a dash of Cheech and Chong) in a duet. Jay (Jason Mews) and Silent Bob (Pat Smith) in every movie. Eventually, Jay and Silent Bob began appearing in other non-Smith-produced films and television that weren't directly part of the View Askewniverse, though the characters' presence obviously opened the door for loose inclusion.

One of these films was Scream 3 by Wes Craven the comedic duo are included in the episode as part of this franchise's continued blurring of the lines between real life and reel life. It was during the filming of this cameo that Smith had something of an epiphany about his movies, which led to him writing and directing the fifth View Askew movie, Jay and Silent Bob Returns, which itself made the Askewniverse more unified. healthy.

The appearance of Jay and Silent Bob in “Scream 3” was not part of a master plan by Smith, Craven, or anyone else involved with the film. As it happened, both Smith and Scream were under the Miramax/Dimension Films banner, and according to a recent interview with Smith for Entertainment Weeklyit was the studio staff who came up with the episode:

“So the people at Miramax asked us, 'Hey, do you want to be in the next Scream movie as Jay and Silent Bob?' And they said, 'Wes likes it,' meaning Craven.”

Shooting an episodic plot, in which Jay and Silent Bob bump into Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) while touring the studio lot where “Stab 3” is being filmed.Smith couldn't help but marvel at how novel his characters looked on the soundstages. As he recalled:

“And you've got to remember most of the movies I've done, all the movies I've done, none of them have been seen much. So walking around the sound stages, I'm thinking, 'That would be crazy man. — to do a whole movie like on a soundstage… Jay and Silent Bob just running around and stuff. It was from there that “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” was born.

Although the entirety of “Jay and Silent Bob Returns” wasn't shot in and around sound stages, Smith made sure to write a lengthy sequence for the film in which the duo break into the Miramax lot, achieving the vision he had. set “Scream 3”.

Most of the cameos in “Jay and Silent Bob” are made up of previous View Askewniverse characters and the actors who portray them—Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Alanis Morissette among them—or geek and comedy characters from Smith's film. , such as Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill from “Star Wars” and stand-up legend George Carlin. So while Wes Craven's appearance in the film may seem a little out of place on paper, it makes sense when you understand that it's Smith's way of repaying the director for the indirect inspiration he provided. In true meta fashion, Craven comes into his own by directing Scream 4 (a full decade before Scream 4 ), in which an orangutan known as Susan somehow plays Ghostface. Smith certainly commanded respect in his interview:

“That's why Wes Craven is in 'Jay and Silent Bob Returns'. I pay him back.”

As Smith continues, all of this means that Jay and Silent Bob aren't just part of the View Askewniverse, but that they're part of the “Scream” franchise.as well as the series “Degrassi” (appearing in “Degrassi: The Next Generation”) and the DC Comics TV Arrowverse, who becomes a security guard in an episode of “The Flash”. If Kevin Smith hadn't been open to spontaneity, neither he nor his work would have flourished as much as they did. While the lovable duo's most recent appearances have landed on Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and Clerks III, keep your eyes peeled; the door is open to Jay and Silent Bob strike almost anywhere.