Kevin Smith unveiled the first official Clerks 3 trailer, and in true Smith fashion, Dante and Randal's latest misadventure is filled with meta-references to filmmaker's own experiences.
Smith's career was launched by the release of 1994's Clerks, an acclaimed indie film that chronicled the day of Dante Hicks and Randal Graves as they worked their shift at the Quick Stop convenience and video store. Twelve years later, Smith released Clerks 2, which followed Dante and Randal as they encountered several bizarre characters and worked out their own issues during their shift at the Mooby's fast food restaurant.
Now, after 16 years and several obstacles, Clerks 3 will finally arrive and reunite fans with Dante, Randal, Elias, Becky Scott, and, of course, Jay and Silent Bob. As seen in the first Clerks 3 trailer, Randal survives a heart attack and decides to make a film about his life with Dante at Quick Stop upon realizing he's living on borrowed time. What follows is a series of cameos from beloved View Askewniverse faces like Ben Affleck and multiple Star Wars references as Dante and Randal try to make their filmmaking dreams come true. It wouldn't be a Smith film without self-referential references as well, so the Clerks 3 trailer also includes a shout-out to a memorable conversation about the Death Star from the first film as well as a nod to how only a "hack" would make a sequel to film about their life working at a convenience.
As fans can probably tell, Clerks 3 contains more than a few references to the experiences Smith himself has faced in the years since Clerks 2 was released. In 2018, Smith suffered a heart attack from which he recovered that seemingly changed his life. After a doctor advised him to lose weight, Smith adopted a vegan diet that he maintains to this day and lost a significant amount of weight in order to improve his health. So, Clerks 3, much like the previous two films, is likely to be a commentary on the current stage of Smith's life.
Although Smith's recent work hasn't been as well-received by critics, he maintains a loyal and passionate fanbase that is likely looking forward to reuniting with the Quick Stop gang. Besides, Clerks 2 is read as Smith's declaring that he is more than okay making small movies with his friends that may not be what critics consider worthy but fuel his passion and allows him to work with the people he cares about the most.
Time will tell how Clerks 3 will fare with fans and critics, but few will doubt that Smith has poured everything he has into the third chapter of the film series that changed his life.
Clerks 3 is scheduled to release on September 13, 2022.
Source: Kevin Smith/YouTube