When “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” hits theaters Oct. 15, it will be the reuniting of one-time friends Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith, who had been reportedly estranged for a number of years.
Affleck’s cameo in the comedy — his seventh appearance in a Smith movie — was a highpoint for Smith, who told Variety that the experience helped him “get his friend back.”
“[Ben] coming back was everything,” Smith told Variety on Friday at West Hollywood’s Herbarium, promoting a Jay and Silent Bob cannabis collaboration with Caviar Gold. “Not only did I get to add that character, Holden, who he played in ‘Chasing Amy’ back into the mix, but it’s one of the best scenes in the movie.
Smith said he wrote in the role when he found out Affleck was game to return. “We didn’t even have it in the flick when we started shooting. We shot it on the last day, and I wrote it like a week before wrap.”
Joined at the event by “Jay and Silent Bob” co-star Jason Mewes, Smith was also giddy with excitement about the joint announcement earlier in the day that Sony and Disney will keep Spider-Man in Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I got so many texts this morning from people going, ‘Did you see?’ and sending me the link to the news about Disney and Sony making up,” Smith told Variety. “This is a smart decision, man. When business titans surprise you and don’t act necessarily like selfishly over the bottom line, it just works something out for the good of the fanbase.
He continued, “I mean, let’s be honest. They know they’re going to take all the money from that fanbase. But this is what the fanbase wants. They love the Marvel characterization of Spider-Man. We saw the whole world react negatively when it looked like he was going to be a Sony-only property. Now everyone is joyous that he’s back. This is where he belongs, with all the Marvel characters.”
On Friday, in conjunction with “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” Smith and Mewes were touting their newly created signature cannabis strains — Snoogans, Snoochie Boochies, and Berzerker — all references to Jay and Silent Bob slang.
“In [‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’], the boys Jay and Silent Bob come up with three different strains of weed,” Smith told Variety. “I was like, wouldn’t it be great if we could do that in real life … It’s exciting as hell. The movie will be forgotten. The weed will keep going, I’m pretty sure.”