Oh, Kevin Smith. Many of you are either rolling your eyes already, or perhaps you are lighting a victory joint because we actually posted this article. That’s right: Kevin Smith is one of the most divisive figures in fan culture. From a highly publicized visit to the top-secret Star Wars: The Force Awakens set, to his hosting of primetime DC Comics events on the CW, he always seems to be appointed as ambassador of the average fanboy. While I’m perfectly fine with it (you’ll see why soon), this doesn’t sit well with many people. Why? Well, for one, the films that made him famous have nothing to do with superheroes aside from being occasional topics of conversation: Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats… they’re all romantic comedies at heart. Yet, his passion for these nerd properties led him to write on several occasions for both DC (Green Arrow, Batman: Cacaphony) and Marvel (Daredevil), get offered to write a Green Lantern film, and host a reality show Comic Book Men on AMC. So why the hell am I excited for a guy who is mostly known as a rom-com writer-director who simply likes superheroes to direct ‘The Flash’, one of the most successful superhero shows of all time?
He’s a talented storyteller.
In a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, Bobby Moynihan played Kevin Smith in one of their famous Celebrity Jeopardy sketches. It was a little strange considering how niche Kevin’s fan base is, but the caricature basically consisted of a quick joke about smoking weed and a whole lot of enthusiasm about podcasting. As dumb as it sounds (and it was), it was accurate. Kevin Smith does smoke a lot of weed, but he is one of the best podcasters in the medium.
When I was student teaching and driving almost three hours a day to school, class, and home across the entangled Northeast Ohio highways, podcasting saved me. I won’t go so far as to say Kevin Smith saved me, but trust me: he’s one of the greats. The way he can embellish on a story, even sprinkled with tons of stuttering and swearing, makes anything sound interesting and entertaining, and, even better, he can make you interested in anything. From his tales of Jason “Jay” Mewes’ battles with addiction in Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, to his commentary on Grant Morrison’s JLA run on Fat Man On Batman, he’s got a knack for emotional build-up, suspenseful moments, and pay-offs, all three of which would serve his directorial debut on ‘The Flash’ well.
Kevin Smith is the reason I watch ‘The Flash’.
I was listening to Kevin Smith talk to his co-host Marc Bernardin on Fat Man on Batman, explaining how he recently binge-watched ‘The Flash’. The acting, character moments, and sheer ballsiness of the show hooked him, and it was the genius overarching storyline of the Reverse-Flash that convinced Kevin Smith that ‘The Flash’ TV show is one of the greatest works of fiction in any medium. In fact, it was hearing about King Shark showing up in an episode that convinced Kevin to watch it — he’s a fanboy who can appreciate those “deep cuts”. Kevin’s usually pretty enthusiastic about everything even when he’s against the majority (keyword “usually”; sorry, Batman V. Superman), but this was unusually high praise. And for someone who was already watching the somewhat campy ‘Arrow’, I decided to give it a shot, too, and here I am, writing recaps and editorials for the show on a weekly basis! When I heard his interview with Andrew Kreisberg, one of the executive producers of ‘The Flash’, I remember thinking to myself how awesome it’d be if Kevin Smith could write for ‘The Flash’, and mere days later his directing gig was announced.
Kevin Smith knows what makes ‘The Flash’ great.
Kevin Smith was a ‘Flash’ fan first. He has rarely showed much interest lately in directing anything that isn’t 100% his own creation, but this changed him. He watched a show, become a fan, and now, he’s directing it as a fan. This will be an episode that will remind us, hopefully subtly, why we love Barry, Cisco, Iris, Caitlin, Harry, Joe, Wally, and even Zoom. Because the person directing loves these characters. Even better, he’s shown restraint. Many people don’t know, but in a 2000 interview with Ain’t It Cool News, he reveals that he was once offered to write a Green Lantern movie, but he turned it down: “I’m sure there are people out there who are massive fans and who really know a lot about the character. Maybe those are they guys you should be going after and not me.” He knew he wasn’t going to be passionate about it, but this time’s different. Like it did for many of us, ‘The Flash’ made him care deeply about this formerly B-list comic book character.
He is passionate about his… passions.
This is the guy who directed Tusk, a film about a psychopath who tries to turn a guy into a walrus, and is currently wrapping production on Moose Jaws, which is, essentially, Jaws with a moose instead of a shark. Or maybe it’s a shark-moose hybrid. Who knows, but this is a guy who follows his passions, if not anything else. He will strive for an emotional episode that feels sufficient and meaningful, and he won’t care if the rules of science and logic apply or not. And I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want to see in my live-action superhero stories.
He strives for ambition, creativity, and progression
After following Kevin Smith on social media for a while, and especially after hearing his crowd interactions on shows like Hollywood Babble-On, it’s become pretty clear that Kevin Smith has had a spiritual awakening in the years since his “downfall” from A-list-hood. His MO is quite simple: if you like something, do it; pursue it, and don’t listen to what other people say. It sounds like simple advice, but sometimes it’s all we need to give us that little “push” to pursue our creative ambitions. He usually offers this advice to those attempting their own podcast or YouTube channel, but, oddly enough, it applies to ‘The Flash’. These CW superhero shows wouldn’t be nearly as popular if their writers and directors didn’t take risks with casting, character beats, and taking big, often ridiculous moments directly from the comics. But most of all? Kevin Smith believes in moving forward, progressing beyond your failures. And after a decidedly less cohesive season than Season 1, ‘The Flash’ needs to start taking these characters to new and exciting places and pushing them in new and exciting ways. Kevin Smith knows this, and ‘The Flash’ will only benefit from having him onboard.
So those are the reasons why I’m excited for Kevin Smith to direct the 21st episode of ‘The Flash’, debuting, tentatively, on May 10th, 2016.
