Kevin Smith is a treasure trove of Hollywood stories related to his career as an active screenwriter and director. He’s been open about his experiences, like witnessing "true darkness" while working with Bruce Willis. Many times, Smith has disclosed information on multiple projects he came close to doing or was shelved by the studios, and this time is no different. For the latest edition of Kevin Smith’s Hollywood stories, the Clerks 3 director spoke on the time he was hired to write a DC superhero project for The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons.
Jim Parsons in a superhero film sounded like one of Sheldon Cooper’s best dreams. In real life though, the actor came close to being a DC superhero, according to Kevin Smith. Like many failed projects, Smith came across the script while doing a deep dive. The director spilled on his podcast Fat Man Beyond which DC superhero the Big Bang Theory alum would’ve played in the failed project.
I was deep diving into one of my laptops looking for an old photo and I found a script to Plastic Man that I wrote for a Plastic Man cartoon like two years ago or something like that. I completely fucking forgot about it, and they paid me to write it and then they didn't do it and it was with um what's his name from The Big Bang Theory — he was such a good dude — Jim Parsons. What a lovely dude but he was gonna be the voice of Plastic Man. So, I looked at the script and I was like 'Wow man they fucking paid me to write this and it's never going to happen.'
From the tidbits Kevin Smith revealed, it sounded like DC fans almost got an animated series featuring the elastic superhero. Parson already does voiceovers for Young Sheldon, so taking on the beloved superhero wouldn’t have been too farfetched. While Smith didn’t get into the details as to why the Plastic Man project was shelved, it seemed like the studio couldn’t work what to do with the property. Still, it would’ve been nice to hear Jim Parsons voice Plastic Man.
If the series had come to fruition, it would’ve been the most recent small-screen adaptation based on the DC superhero. Plastic Man headlined an animated series for five seasons from 1979 to 1981, and a pilot for a new series was commissioned in 2006, but it wasn't picked up. Since then, the character has popped in animated DC shows like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, and Justice League: Action.
The Plastic Man script isn’t the first failed DC project Kevin Smith has been hired to work on. Most notably, he was tapped to write the unrealized Tim Burton Superman film Superman Lives. Smith has said in the past he had Guardians of the Galaxy’s Michael Rooker in mind to play Lex Luthor. The director did get his comics fix by teaming up with the Russo brothers for a docu-series about DC and Marvel history called Slugfest. Outside of the comic book realm though, one project Smith had a hand in came to fruition – Good Will Hunting. The film’s stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon gave the Clerk 3 director credit for saving the film.
Of course. Kevin Smith is busier than ever after wrapping up production on Clerks 3 with an appreciation post to the cast and crew. While we wait for more news on what Smith has cooking, don't forget to look through our lineup of upcoming movies and the 2022 TV schedule.
