Kevin Smith is thinking about angels, the devil and Dogma a lot these days.

Smith, who directed and wrote the 1999 religious fantasy/dramedy, has been in the idea stage for Dogma 2 for at least a few months, since confirming that the sequel could happen back in June. Recently on the SlashFilm podcast, Smith discussed casting ideas for the continuation of the story of the war between fallen angels, God, and humanity.

A couple of the main cast members of the film have passed away in the lasts 26 years, including Alan Rickman, who played Metatron, so Smith explained how he would continue on with the character, but not the actor.

“I want to write it for Helen Mirren. She is incredibly Alan-adjacent,” Smith explained. “She’s not playing Metatron, but she plays this movie’s version of Metatron. 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,’” he continued.

“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,” added Smith. “But it started me thinking, maybe it would be Helen Mirren. So I’m writing it for Helen Mirren.”

Smith said he had met Mirren years before deciding she was the perfect replacement for Rickman, who died in 2016 at the age of 69.

Smith also disclosed that he’s mentally cast Austin Butler as the Devil, a character that didn’t appear in the original, saying, “I worked with a kid years and years ago, and he was so sweet — nice boy, very talented — and then he went and became super famous. Whenever I write the Devil, I think of Austin Butler.

“Especially after Dune, man. His Feyd was pretty badass,” added Smith. “But our Devil is … he’s not like arched eyebrow insidious. He’s sexier than that. He’s like a grunge rocker. And I think Austin could pull that off pretty well.” Butler, who portrayed Elvis Presley in a 2022 biopic, appeared in Smith’s 2016 movie Yoga Hosers.

In another interview, this time with ComicBook.com, Smith has seemingly backtracked on his earlier plan to leave the characters of Bartleby and Loki the fallen angels, played respectively by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, out of the sequel as Affleck’s character was destroyed by God (Alanis Morrisette). Now, he says he wants to explore what that after-the-afterlife situation looks like.

“After Dogma came out, people would be like, ‘What happens to Bartleby and Loki at the end?’ And I was like, well, if you’re a touchy-feely Christian, you believe in forgiveness. But if you’re an old school Catholic like myself, they’re burning in hell. They broke the laws, and that’s what happens. There’s punishment there. So that plays into our follow-up,” said Smith.