Kevin Smith is hopeful Ben Affleck will return for Mallrats 2. Since making his debut in 1994 with Clerks, Smith has not only expanded his filmography to no small degree, but he’s also gained a highly dedicated fanbase.
The success of Clerks helped usher in a new era of independent, low-budget filmmaking, well before the days of small, highly affordable HD cameras and easily obtainable editing software. Smith gained substantial recognition for the manner in which he created affordable comedy, and as the hype surrounding Clerks began to die down somewhat, everyone wondered whether he could sustain this newfound acclaim or whether he’d simply be a one-hit wonder. Of course, today we know that Smith went on to more than prove his worth as a filmmaker, but back in 1995, the question still lingered. The follow up to Clerks was Mallrats, a strange sort of buddy comedy starring Jeremy London and Jason Lee in which the two spent their day getting into an assortment of encounters and adventures in a local shopping mall. The film was a hit, though it wasn’t as financially or critically successful as Clerks had been.
As Smith seems to have now entered into a somewhat nostalgic phase with his filmmaking – having already released a sequel to 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as announcing a third Clerks film, it felt as though it was only a matter of time before he got to work on a Mallrats sequel. Not only do we have confirmation that Mallrats 2 is definitely on its way, but now thanks to Comicbook, we’ve learned that in addition to the rest of the original returning cast, Smith is hopeful that Ben Affleck will also appear in the sequel. Smith had this to say regarding the possibility:
"Well Shannon Hamilton is definitely in the script. He's not like a main character who pops up all the time and stuff, but he helps set our plot in motion. It's a smaller part than Ben had in Reboot. So my gut instinct is if he was willing to do that large part, he might be probably willing to do the small part as well. You know, I guess it'll depend where we shoot it and stuff like that. But I hope so."
For those who don’t recall, Affleck’s Shannon Hamilton character was a prime nemesis of Brodie (Lee) in Mallrats. A dedicated employee at The Fashionable Male, Hamilton’s boxy grey suit and cocky/standoffish attitude made him fun to dislike. It’s hard to imagine just what sort of role Smith could have written for Affleck in the Mallrats 2 script, but as the director states, it’s a smaller part than what Affleck had in last year’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Still, a small role by no means makes it less entertaining, and with Affleck and Smith’s friendship having recently been rejuvenated, there doesn’t seem to be any reason (barring scheduling conflicts), why Affleck couldn’t return for the sequel.
In fact, the real question regarding Affleck and Mallrats 2 is whether he could possibly have a bigger role than what Smith had originally intended. If, as Smith states, Shannon Hamilton helps set the plot in motion, then perhaps if Affleck does commit to Mallrats 2, there could be a way to beef up his role. Affleck was hilarious in the first Mallrats, so it only stands to reason that a role in the sequel should be twice as important and twice as funny.
Source: Comicbook