How Kevin Smith And Ben Affleck Wonderfully Reunited For 'Jay And Silent Bob Reboot'

When the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot trailer arrived this past week, longtime Kevin Smith fans were happy to see that the friendship between the filmmaker and Ben Affleck had been rekindled after years of not speaking to each other. Affleck briefly appeared in the trailer as his Chasing Amy character Holden McNeil, and now that the cat is out of the bag, Smith took to Instagram to explain how these two longtime friends finally reunited.

For those who may not know, Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck used to be close friends. But some tension arose between the two during Affleck's marriage to Jennifer Garner. When Smith tells the story, he blames himself for maybe having too big of a mouth, mostly for ribbing Affleck through anecdotes from their past or telling stories that aren't his. Garner apparently never fully understood the kind of friendship those two had. But Smith takes full blame for the wedge that was driven between them.

Thankfully, that's all over now, and Smith posted the above photo on Instagram with a wonderful explanation of how Ben Affleck came back into his life this year. We've posted the caption below, but replaced Instagram handles and hashtags for the sake of clarity.

"MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK! When the trailer for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot dropped (link in my bio), folks found out a few of our secrets – one of the biggest being that Ben Affleck is back as Holden McNeil! The co-creator of Bluntman and Chronic and friend of Jay and Silent Bob plays a crucial role in the Reboot and his scene is one of the best bits of cinema I've ever been involved with: it's absolutely magical and life-affirming and all the things I really care about now, post-heart attack. But when we started shooting the movie, the scene didn't exist. This scene – and more importantly, my reunion with a guy who I've missed terribly for nearly a decade – only happened because of [entertainment reporter] Kevin McCarthy.

Kev interviewed Ben for his Netflix movie Triple Frontier and kicked off by asking Ben, "Did they call you for Reboot yet?" And Ben said no, but he was available. So producer Jordan Monsanto said, "Call Ben." I told her, "That's just some nice shit to say at a junket. He wasn't serious."A week later, Jordan, Jason Mewes and Jen Schwalbach were all pressing me to reach out to Ben, so I finally did. I was scared to be rejected, but I texted him, "To paraphrase the sad old King Osric in CONAN THE BARBARIAN, 'There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a director's love for the people he used to make pretend with.'" And after a long beat of wondering how he'd receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could: "Of course you still liken yourself to a king," he joked. And then, "Would be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man." So naturally, weepy me – who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks – was a blubbery mess.Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back – all because of entertainment journalism. Thank you, Kevin McCarthy – your View Askew themed opening question not only allowed me to make an 8 page sequel to Chasing Amy in the middle of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, it also brought back a massive missing piece of my heart."

Honestly, this story made me tear up. The hilarious friendship between Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith since their days working on Mallrats together was one of my favorite things about the little cinematic universe that Smith created. Whenever Smith told stories about working with Affleck, he always gave the Armageddon star a hard time, but it was always came from the kind of brotherly love that exists between two best friends like them.

As for what this new scene involving Holden McNeil will be, we imagine it will be something that Chasing Amy fans, and anyone who has been with Kevin Smith movies since the beginning, will truly enjoy.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot arrives in theaters for two days only this October and will be going on a touring roadshow with Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. Get details over here.