Mallrats 2 director Kevin Smith has revealed that Ben Affleck would be reprising his role as the villainous Shannon Hamilton in the sequel of View Askew comedy film Mallrats. Having last portrayed Shannon Hamilton in 1995, Affleck has been keeping busy by playing the comic book superhero Batman in Justice League and winning numerous Academy Awards and Golden Globes for acting, writing, and directing.
In January, Kevin Smith officially released the title of the Mallrats sequel, Twilight of the Mallrats. After completing the script during quarantine, Smith said that Shannon Hamilton would be among the returning characters to the second Mallrats film in March. He also stated that the long-awaited sequel will feature many similarities to the original, despite that most of the then-college aged characters will now be in their forties and fifties. At the time, Affleck was not attached to the project, but having appeared in six View Askew movies, with the most recent one being the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot in 2019, it is no surprise that Affleck is willing to reprise his role as Shannon Hamilton.
Smith indicated Affleck’s return during a livestream on Jason Mewes’ Twitch Channel. He disclosed that Affleck’s role would be small but crucial, and would set off the events of the film. Shannon’s fate at the end of the last film, which saw him going off to jail, will also be addressed. Affleck himself has not publicly confirmed his return, but Smith claims that he has spoken with Affleck and that “it’s looking good.”
Smith has not divulged much detail about the plot of Twilight of the Mallrats, but based on Affleck’s brilliant work as the antagonist in the first Mallrats film, fans can expect Shannon Hamilton to be even more wicked than before and even more entertaining. The Mallrats sequel has been in the works since 2015, and after many changes in development, fans can be hopeful that Smith took the best elements of all his ideas to formulate Twilight of the Mallrats, including what direction he decides to take with Affleck’s controversial character.
Needless to say, there are many difficulties that may surround creating a sequel for a film that came out 25 years ago. In the case of Shannon Hamilton especially, Smith will have to keep in mind the implications of Shannon’s prison sentence for having inappropriate relations with a minor, and the complexity of addressing accusations of statutory rape in a comedic movie. Nevertheless, Smith and Affleck made Shannon Hamilton a character that audiences loved to hate the first time around, so fans can look forward to seeing the slimy antagonist brought to justice once again in Mallrats 2.
Source: Jason Mewes’ Twitch Channel