Serious spoilers below. Proceed at your own risk.
Connected cinematic universes are all the rage today, but let us not forget that it was really Kevin Smith who pioneered the concept back in the 1990s with his Jersey Trilogy, in which characters, or their relations, would show up in the various films without the films being direct sequels to each other. While working on adding even more films to that universe – with Mallrats sequel MallBrats and Clerks III in various stages of preparation – it seemed that he was also stepping out side that world with his trilogy of Canadian-set films. But a new interview with the writer/director/actor reveals that there will be a connection between the series, and that connection will bring a shocking change in status for two fan favorite ViewAskewniverse characters.
The film that will link the series is Moose Jaws, the third film of Smith’s Canadian trilogy. Although he is still working on the screenplay, Smith has previously stated that the film will be a horror-comedy, much like his first Canada film Tusk, and will basically be a retelling of the classic Jaws, but with a moose. And one of the victims of that moose is going to be Kevin Smith himself, or more accurately, his big screen alter ego of Silent Bob.
Speaking with News Corp Australia, Smith stated –
I was talking to Jay [Mewes] about Moose Jaws and I’m like, ‘I’m thinking about bringing us in as the Captain Quint character’. And he goes, ‘Yeah, but Quint gets killed!’ I was like, ‘One of us has to get eaten’. And he was like, ‘You. Not me’. I was like, ‘Why?’ And he was like, ‘Because I wanna be in other movies!’ Fair enough, dude. So, rather than let [Silent Bob] go out with dignity, he’ll be eaten by a fucking moose.
So yes, Smith has written the death of his on-screen persona and it will be in an homage to one of his own personal favorite films. Now of course, there is always the possibility that he is joking. This is Kevin Smith after all. But then again, Smith has said other things that sounded like he was joking that eventually panned out in reality. The entire production of Tusk, for example.
Currently, Smith is on a two week speaking tour in Australia, but when he returns, he’ll dive into production on MallBrats. There’s no word yet as to where Moose Jaws will fall into his production schedule, but it would probably be next spring at the earliest, provided he doesn’t move onto Clerks III first. Yoga Hosers, the middle film of the Canadian trilogy is set for a release later this year.
