The Friday the 13th franchise is being rejuvenated under the Jason Universe label. One of the new projects coming from the label includes the television series Crystal Lake produced by A24 for release on Peacock. The new series stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees and, excitingly enough, an actor has just been cast to portray franchise antagonist Jason Voorhees in Crystal Lake.
The iconic hockey mask wearing killer wasn’t introduced as an antagonist until Part 2, and he didn’t even get his trademark mask until Part 3, but fans have been a fan of Jason for decades.
Since 2009, fans have been waiting for his return, and now it will happen in the upcoming television series that aims to tell the backstory of Jason and, perhaps more importantly, his mother who never really got her due beyond the original 1980 movie.
Now, as shared via Deadline, we know who will be portraying Jason Voorhees in this new venture:
“A new Jason Voorhees has joined the Friday the 13th universe, as Callum Vinson (Chucky, Long Bright River) boards Peacock’s prequel series Crystal Lake from A24.”
As such, Vinson has gone from fighting against Chucky in the third season of the series of the same name to now playing fellow horror icon Jason Voorhees. Vinson is described as a “recurring guest star,” with most of the show’s focus being placed on Pamela Voorhees. Nevertheless, fans are definitely eager to see how Vinson plays the role and what this means for Jason’s character.
Fans have never seen much of Jason’s youth, and without much ability for the character to speak or express himself in the original film series, there is still very little known about Jason or what thoughts he may have behind his mask outside of the love he has for his mother. Crystal Lake has the potential to shed some light on the character and expand his role in the franchise – though that will no doubt require some heavy acceptance from fans that never expected to see Jason portrayed in such a way.
Additionally, several other characters from the original film have also been recast for this prequel. This includes Nick Cordileone as Ralph, Phoenix Parnevik as Barry, and Danielle Kotch as Claudette. Joy Suprano has also joined the series as the new character Rita. Fans will recall Ralph as an older recluse in the original two Friday the 13th films, nicknamed Crazy Ralph by the locals, while Barry and Claudette were Pamela’s first victims in the opening of Friday the 13th set not long after Jason’s drowning.
Now that Crystal Lake is in production – we’ll likely continue to get major updates regarding the series and the franchise’s future including Jason Voorhees and the Jason Universe. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates as we have them.