Before the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, franchise films were made in a much more improvised way. Nowadays, we're used to studios and filmmakers having a multi-year plan for an interlocking series of films and their respective franchises, and while this system can create some very rewarding emotional and narrative payoffs, it doesn't allow as much freedom for spontaneity. With this freedom, the filmmakers were able to follow their muse to places they'd never thought of going before, and it wasn't just the characters or moments that came up on the fly; in some cases, an entire film came about based on a chance encounter.

That's exactly what happened to Kevin Smith during his formative years making movies set in his View Askewniverse, named after the View Askew production company he created when he started making movies. Initially, these films were mostly interconnected in an Easter-egg fashion, with the only underlying connective tissue being the appearance of Smith's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern duo with Laurel and Hardy (with a dash of Chee and Chong). Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself) in each film. Eventually, Jay and Silent Bob began appearing in other non-Smith-made films and television that weren't explicitly part of the View Askewniverse, though the characters' presence obviously opened the door for loose inclusion.

One of these films was Wes Craven's Scream 3, with the comedic duo included in a cameo as part of that franchise's continued embrace of the meta-blurring of the lines between real and real life. It was during the filming of this cameo that Smith had a bit of an epiphany about his movies, which led to him writing and directing the fifth View Askew movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which itself brought the Askewniverse into a more cohesive a whole.

The appearance of Jay and Silent Bob in Scream 3 was not part of any master plan by Smith, Craven, or anyone else involved in the film. It just so happens that both Smith and Scream are under the Miramax/Dimension Films banner, and according to a recent interview with Smith for Entertainment Weeklythe folks at the studio came up with the cameo:

"So the people at Miramax asked us, 'Hey man, do you want to be in the next Scream movie as Jay and Silent Bob?' And they were like, 'Wes is in it,' meaning Craven."

After filming the cameo scene, in which Jay and Silent Bob run into Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) while touring the studio where Stab 3 is being filmedSmith couldn't help but admire how novel his characters looked between soundstages. As he recalled:

“And you have to remember most of the movies that I've done, all the movies that I've done, none of them have been on a lot. — make a whole movie sound stage like... Jay and Silent Bob just goof around and stuff. That's where "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" came from.

While the entirety of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back isn't set in and around soundstages, Smith made sure to write a lengthy scene for the film in which the duo break into the Miramax bar, achieving the vision he had on set " Scream 3”.

Most of the cameos seen in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" are of previous View Askewniverse characters and the actors who portray them — Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Alanis Morissette among them — or cultural and comic book heroes. of Smith. , like Star Wars' Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and stand-up legend George Carlin. So while Wes Craven's appearance in the film might seem a little out of place on paper, it makes sense when you realize that this is Smith's way of repaying the director for the indirect inspiration he provided. In true meta fashion, Craven appears as himself, directing Scream 4 (a full decade before he made Scream 4) in which an orangutan known as Susanna somehow plays Ghostface. Smith made sure to shout out the tribute in his interview:

"That's why Wes Craven is in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." I paid him back."

As Smith says, all of this means that Jay and Silent Bob aren't just part of the View Askewniverse, they're also part of the Scream franchise.as well as the series Degrassi (appearing in Degrassi: The Next Generation) and the DC TV comic Arrowverse, appearing as Guardians in an episode of The Flash. If Kevin Smith wasn't open to spontaneity, then neither he nor his creations could have flourished as much as they have. While the lovable duo's most recent appearances have been relegated to the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and Clerks III, keep your eyes peeled; the doors are open to Jay and Silent Bob strike almost anywhere next.