Kevin Smith Reveals Alan Rickman Replacement For Long-Gestating Dogma 2

Kevin Smith reveals who will play Alan Rickman’s role in the long-gestating sequel to Dogma. Rickman played Metatron, who is the voice of God, in Smith’s 1999 cult-classic comedy film. In 2016, Rickman passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 69.

While on the /Film Weekly podcast, Smith shared that if Dogma 2 gets made, he wants to write Helen Mirren as Metatron. He clarifies that it would not be the same Metatron from the original movie and would instead be the sequel’s version of the character.

Smith acknowledges that Adam Driver looks like a younger and taller Rickman, which would seemingly make Driver the obvious choice. However, he explains that he met Mirren years ago, with Rickman at his side at the time, and describes her as “incredibly Alan-adjacent.” Check out Smith’s comments below:

I want to write it for Helen Mirren. She is incredibly Alan-adjacent. She’s not playing Metatron, but she plays this movie’s version of Metatron. For me, I met her years ago with Alan, at this Empire movie awards ceremony. When I was thinking, ‘Well, I don’t have Alan,” at one point I was like, “Well, Adam Driver looks like a young Alan Rickman, just taller.’ But then I was like, no. Then I thought, ‘You know what? Helen Mirren, aside from being one of my favorite actors on the planet, I had that crossover moment with her and Alan at one point.’ As a writer and a romantic, you’ll make any connection or any justification you can. But it started me thinking, maybe it would be Helen Mirren. So I’m writing it for Helen Mirren.

Rickman and Mirren were also real-life friends and worked together on multiple projects. They both starred in the 2015 thriller film Eye in the Sky, which was one of Alan Rickman’s final movies before his death.

They also played the titular roles in 1998’s stage production of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at Britain’s National Theater. While speaking with Vanity Fair in 2016, Mirren shared her fond memories of Rickman from the production.

It was difficult because he stepped in at the last minute when the actor who was originally playing the role dropped out. . . . He came in and very courageously jumped in. Antony and Cleopatra is an extremely emotionally demanding play. . . . He was extremely generous on stage.

Mirren playing Metatron after Rickman’s passing is not the only new tease that Smith has given for the potential sequel. He also discussed the fate of Ben Affleck’s character, Bartleby, in Dogma 2. He raised the question of whether Bartleby and Loki (Matt Damon) deserve forgiveness or if they should face eternal punishment, which the sequel would explore. He also addressed the current status of Dogma 2.

Before I leave this best of all possible worlds, absolutely. But I’m the kind of guy that has to build a lot of runway for a long time. I mean, mind you, I’ve been talking about making Moose Jaws for 10 years. We’re very close, you know what I’m saying? But a Dogma follow-up has the benefit of people of brand name recognition. So it may be easier to get to than some other things. Dogma will be much easier to get financed than Moose Jaws.

Dogma is still widely considered to be among Kevin Smith’s best movies. As he indicates, the brand name recognition makes it more feasible to be made compared to other projects. That being said, this still doesn’t guarantee that it will come to fruition, even if Affleck, Damon, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, and other high-profile stars return to reprise their original roles.

A Dogma sequel will have an inevitably challenging time living up to the enduring legacy of the original story. Rickman’s absence would definitely be felt, but Mirren is a strong contender to continue his legacy with a new iteration of Metatron. Since the character is an angelic being known as a seraph, the sequel would not have to do too much explaining about the changed appearance.