Here is a comprehensive timeline and explanation of the movies in Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse. Smith’s extended universe is made up of works spanning nearly 30 years, but the View Askewniverse is principally comprised of seven films, and with the release of the series’ eighth installment, Clerks 3, it seems like a good time to take a look back through Smith’s films and the world he has built thus far.
While certain story elements have a role throughout the series, it is predominantly the characters and the relationships between them that identify the Askewniverse. Smith has always cast his favorite friends and family in his projects, and the offscreen relationships that inform the characters make the Askewniverse films stand out. Reportedly, after watching Richard Linklater's Slacker (1990), a very cool, very Gen-X film that follows various eccentric, paranoid layabouts in Austin, Texas, Smith felt inspired and liberated to approach film with his uniquely laidback, yet ambitious movie-making style.
Since the release of his first major debut film, Clerks, in 1994, Smith has gone on to direct and produce various other film projects. Although there are several other canon installments in his filmography (and bibliography), including comics, film shorts, and animated features, these seven movies are the foundation of the View Askewniverse.
Clerks (1994)
The inaugural movie installment in Kevin Smith’s cinematic universe, Clerks follows a day in the life of a convenience store worker. The film is shot in black and white, conveying the perceived sense of mundanity Smith felt toward his job working in the same convenience store in which the film was shot. Smith and his film school classmate Scott Mosier created View Askew Productions to produce Clerks, which is where the cinematic universe gets its name.
The cast of Clerks was rather small, but the majority of the characters would go on to appear in Smith’s subsequent works. Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) would become the face of the Askewniverse, showing up in every movie in the series. Brian O’Halloran plays Dante Hicks, Clerks’ protagonist and a character that appears several times throughout the Clerks series, but O’Halloran himself cameos in all of Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, always as a character with the last name “Hicks.” Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) is also introduced in Clerks, and there are even cameos from Mosier and Walt Flanagan, Smith’s long time friend who would eventually be given the keys to Smith’s New Jersey comic book store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, the location for the AMC reality series Comic Book Men.
Mallrats (1995)
Mallrats centers around two college-aged friends during their day at a local mall. After being dumped by the girl he intended to wed, T.S. Quint turns to his best friend Brodie Bruce, who had also recently been dumped, and the two elect to spend the day at the mall to escape their woes. When they learn that Quint’s now ex-girlfriend is filming a dating show in the very same mall, the two friends enlist the help of notorious slackers Jay and Silent Bob and set out to ruin the production.
It is mentioned early in Mallrats that a woman named Julie Dwyer had died the night prior to the events of the film. In Clerks, Dante and Randall close the store to attend Julie’s funeral. This makes Mallrats the first View Askewniverse film chronologically, even though it was made the year after Clerks. Jay and Silent Bob are the only returning characters from the first film, although Brian O’Halloran appears briefly as Gil Hicks, sharing a last name with his Clerks character. Walt Flanagan cameos as Walt “Fanboy” Grover, a cousin to both Clerks’ Randall and Mallrats’ Brodie, and his Comic Book Men cohort Bryan Johnson makes his first Askewniverse appearance as Steve-Dave Pulasti. Other notable additions to Jay and Silent Bob's movie universe include Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce, Joey Lauren Adams as Gwen Turner, and Ben Affleck as Shannon Hamilton. Ethan Suplee also appears as William Black, although the role was portrayed previously by Scott Mosier.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Chasing Amy is one of Smith’s few attempts at romance, offering a unique insight into dating in the ‘90s. Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards are lifelong friends and fellow comic book artists. The two are promoting their comic Bluntman and Chronic at a convention when they meet Alyssa Jones. Immediately smitten with her, Holden begins perusing a relationship with Alyssa and discovers that she is a lesbian. The two eventually wind up together until Banky drives a rift between them out of jealousy, effectively dissolving his partnership with Holden, as well as Holden’s relationship with Alyssa.
Jay and Silent Bob make their Chasing Amy appearance in a scene with Holden wherein Silent Bob details a relationship that he’d had with a woman named Amy, lending the film its title. Chasing Amy is the second Askewniverse film for Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee, although they play Holden, Alyssa, and Banky respectively rather than reprising their Mallrats roles. Matt Damon makes a small cameo alongside Brian O’Halloran, who once again plays a relative of his Clerks character, this time named Jim Hicks. Scott Mosier and Ethan Suplee both have cameos as well, though this time neither one portrays William Black.
Dogma (1999)
The fourth installment in the View Askewniverse marks a stylistic change for Smith, shifting from the relatively grounded projects of his early career to the more absurdist style for which he has become known. Dogma centers around Bethany (played by erotic thriller The Last Seduction II's Linda Fiorentino), an abortion clinic worker who is tasked with preventing the apocalypse. Bartleby and Loki, two rogue angels who had been cast out of heaven, find a loophole that would grant them forgiveness and allow them to regain their divinity, which would, in turn, bring an end to all of existence. With the help of Rufus, the thirteenth apostle, as well as Jay and Silent Bob, Bethany must navigate a chaotic world on the brink of destruction to foil the plans of angels and save the world.
Although there are quite a few Askewniverse actors in Dogma, only Jay and Silent Bob make appearances in their Askewniverse roles. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are front and center as the destructive angels Bartleby and Loki, and Jason Lee portrays the demon Azrael, the film’s main antagonist. Jeff Anderson appears briefly as a gun salesman, and Brian O’Halloran plays a relative of Dante yet again, this time portraying television reporter Grant Hicks. Though he is never seen, Ethan Suplee provides the voice for Golgothan, the beast made of human excrement. Scott Mosier and Walt Flanagan have small cameos as well. Dogma also contains the series’ first reference to Mooby’s, the fictional fast-food chain that is present throughout the Askewniverse.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Taking full advantage of Jay and Silent Bob’s status as stoner icons, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a ridiculous road trip movie vaguely reminiscent of the works of Cheech and Chong. After learning that Bluntman and Chronic (the comic series that is loosely based on them) is being made into a movie without their involvement, Jay and Silent Bob set off on a journey to put a stop to the film’s production. From a The Fugitive-style manhunt with Will Ferrell to a Star Wars-themed climactic fight sequence featuring Mark Hamill as Bluntman’s nemesis Cocknocker, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a hectic homage to both Smith’s own work and the history of cinema that is tightly packed with Easter eggs and references.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is an ambitious project with callbacks to every View Askewniverse project to date. Jason Lee plays two roles, bringing back both Brodie Bruce from Mallrats and Banky Edwards from Chasing Amy. Ben Affleck appears twice in the film as well, once as Holden McNeil and again as himself alongside Matt Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting. Jeff Anderson and Brian O’Halloran appear as Randall Graves and Dante Hicks for the first time since Clerks, Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson reprise their roles as Walt “Fanboy” Grover and Steve-Dave Pulasti, and Joey Lauren Adams returns as Alyssa Jones. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is also the first time Smith included his immediate family in his work, with his wife Jennifer Schwalbach appearing as Missy and his daughter Harley Quinn Smith portraying a young Silent Bob.
Clerks II (2006)
After a few years of working on projects unrelated to the Askewniverse, Smith returned to the series with Clerks II, Smith’s Askewniverse sequel that occurs roughly ten years after the events of the first film. Dante opens up the Quick-Stop one morning to find it completely engulfed in flames. With nowhere else to turn, Dante and Randall begin working at Mooby’s, the fictional fast-food chain restaurant featured in previous Askewniverse films. Feeling ever dejected by the trappings of his minimum-wage lifestyle, Dante plans on moving to Florida with his fiancée, much to the disdain of Randall. As the day progresses, Dante finds himself questioning if he really wants to leave it all behind, ultimately electing to stay in New Jersey after the Quick-Stop is purchased by Jay and Silent Bob.
Clerks II focuses less on referencing other Askewniverse projects, instead offering the characters an opportunity to change and grow that they’d not had in more than a decade. Most of the original cast returns for the sequel, even including cameos from Walt Flanagan and Scott Mosier. Ben Affleck, Ethan Suplee, and Jason Lee appear as well, though Affleck’s and Suplee’s appearances were short and unnamed and Lee portrayed a new character called Lance Dowds. Smith’s family is included again as well, with Jennifer Schwalbach playing Dante’s assertive fiancée Emma Bunting and Harley Quinn Smith credited as “kid in window.”
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is the latest and perhaps most significant installment in the Askewniverse. The release of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, an effective sequel to 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, comes after a nearly 13-year hiatus from the series. After losing a court case to prevent the making of a Bluntman and Chronic movie, Jay and Silent Bob learn that they have inadvertently signed away the rights to their likeness, stripping them of the right to call themselves “Jay and Silent Bob.” Much as they do in Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the two set off to shut down the production and win back their identities. Things take a meta turn when the duo learn that the Bluntman and Chronic movie is to be directed by Kevin Smith, eventually leading to Smith and Silent Bob swapping places due to them looking so alike.
Although Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is another absurd road trip movie, there is a surprising amount of character development hidden within. Jay reunites with his Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back girlfriend Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), who is now married to Reggie (Rosario Dawson) from Clerks II, and he learns that she had given birth to his daughter Millennium “Milly” Faulken, who is played by Smith’s real-life daughter Harley Quinn. The duo also encounter Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), and it is revealed that Holden had donated sperm to Alyssa and her wife and has since been helping raise the child. In the film’s resolution, Jay takes his daughter to the Quick-Stop and tells her stories of his adventures as Dante Hicks arrives to open up, adding another sentimental layer of meta to Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’s ending. Jason Lee reprises the role of Bluntman and Chronic creator Brodie Bruce, Jennifer Schwalbach appears as her Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back character turned Mooby’s manager Missy “Miss” McKenzie, and Matt Damon has a brief cameo as Loki, his character from Dogma. Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson are briefly seen as well, though for the first time in the View Askewniverse as themselves.