How 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' reunited Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck for 'Chasing Amy' follow-up

"Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" is a movie Kevin Smith has been working toward for his entire career.

Drawing on characters, cast members and concepts from nearly every nook and cranny of the quarter century of his View Askew interconnected cinematic universe of films, "Reboot" falls somewhere between "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and this year's "Avengers: Endgame" in the pantheon of grand cinematic cross-over events.

On his Instagram page, Smith revealed and discussed cameos from "Clerks" (1994) star Brian O'Halloran, as well as Method Man, Redman, All Elite Wrestling champion Chris Jericho, Chris Hemsworth and plenty more.

But one return appearance sent shockwaves from Smith fandom: Ben Affleck, reprising his role as Holden McNeil from 1997's "Chasing Amy."

Between starring roles, supporting turns and cameos, Affleck appeared in every Smith film for more than a decade, from 1995's "Mallrats" through 2006's "Clerks II."

In turn, Smith served as executive producer on 1997's "Good Will Hunting," the film that earned Affleck an Academy Award and cemented his place in the Hollywood mainstream. Smith also appeared in the 2003 Affleck-starring "Daredevil" film.

Smith and Affleck's lives and careers then took them in separate directions. They were put on the road to reconciliation by entertainment journalist Kevin McCarthy, who, during an interview with Affleck for the Netflix film "Triple Frontier" asked Affleck if he'd been contacted for the in-the-works "Reboot" yet. Affleck said he had not but was available.

Following the urging of Jason Mewes, the Jay to his Silent Bob, as well as producer Jordan Monsanto and Smith's wife Jennifer Schwalbach, the director texted Affleck. A few tense moments later, followed by an exchange that included "Conan the Barbarian" and "Say Anything" references, Affleck had agreed to be in the movie, already weeks into shooting.

Smith then enlisted Affleck's "Chasing Amy" co-star, Joey Lauren Adams, and on the last day of shooting in New Orleans, "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" suddenly received a miniature "Amy" sequel that serves as the heart of the new film.

For the uninitiated, or those who need a refresher, "Chasing Amy" was the story of Holden, a New Jersey indie comics creator, who falls in love with fellow writer/artist Alyssa.

Jay and Silent Bob, as established in "Chasing Amy," are the inspiration for Holden's comic book series "Bluntman and Chronic." While "Strike Back" found them traveling to Hollywood to stop a "Bluntman and Chronic" movie from being made, in "Reboot" they learn a new "Bluntman and Chronic" is being made by, yes, Kevin Smith. They hit the road again, this time joined by Jay's daughter, played by Smith's daughter Harley Quinn Smith.

Even though he appears in "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" as both himself and Silent Bob, reviving the character of Holden, Smith explained, afforded him the opportunity to directly address criticisms of his work that have come up in recent years.

“Since Holden is the closest character to me, it allows me to jump into the movie and defend myself for casting my kid. He gives a very eloquent defense," Smith said. "Some people out there are like, ‘Oh, he’s working with (his) kid now.’ And Ben, very eloquently, kind of explains it. And through the character of Holden I get to say, ‘Look, this is who I am now, I don’t know what to tell you.’ "

"Chasing Amy" is a complicated love story between Holden, a straight man, and Alyssa, who has involved with both men and women in the past. While "Chasing Amy" was critically acclaimed upon release and earned Adams a Golden Globe nomination, its views of sexuality have been called into question by some. Alyssa is identified as a lesbian in the film, but her actions show her to likely be bisexual or pansexual.

"This is a movie that some people feel has not aged well and some cats are like, ‘Hey, it’s a problematic movie at this point,’ " Smith said. "Which was always so disheartening because ‘Chasing Amy’ was the one movie of all the ones I’ve made that most people would be like, ‘Alright, at least he did that. He may have went to hell with the walrus thing (2014's 'Tusk'), but he made Chasing Amy.’

Ultimately the late-in-the-game "Reboot" re-visitation of those characters became, in Smith's words, "one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever written and hands-down the best scene in the movie that never existed when we started making this movie.”

It's the sort of deep, emotional reward that's possible when pulling together threads from a quarter century's worth of stories.

"So it’s an unfair nostalgia bomb of a movie, right? The table is tilted, the game is rigged, because we know once you come in we can press all of your nostalgia buttons and you’ll be like, ‘Oh, this feels good, I love going to back in time.’ "

But Smith, who suffered a massive, life-changing heart attack in 2018, had more on his mind than cheap throw-back pops with this film. Instead, he uses the character of Jay and his newfound fatherhood to discuss the need for growth and personal evolution, even in a popular culture obsessed with its own past.

"It was important to take the story forward and really take the character forward," said Smith. "If ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ is a movie where a cartoon character meets a woman and she turns him into a two-dimensional person, ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’ is about how a two-dimensional guy meets another woman, who happens to be the daughter for the first woman, and she turns him into a three-dimensional person, she grows him up.”

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This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: How 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' reunited Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck