Is Crystal Lake’s Adult Jason Voorhees Hiding a Darker Secret? Spoiler: It’s Not Just a Halloween Costume!
Added on August 4, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
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Ah, Friday the 13th—the date that could make your horoscope readings turn from hazy to downright terrifying! Speaking of cosmic chaos, just as Mercury waltzes through retrograde with its usual flair for drama, the legendary slasher saga is getting a fresh shake-up that’s got fans buzzing (and maybe checking over their shoulders). The original screenwriter Victor Miller, having wrestled back the U.S. copyright from the depths of legal limbo, is spearheading a spanking new streaming series titled Crystal Lake. Picture this: Pamela Voorhees, a mother who traded her dream of singing for raising a special needs child, spiraling into a dark vengeance when tragedy strikes. We get a deeper dive into the Voorhees family drama, culminating, at last, in the return of an adult Jason Voorhees—yes, the man behind the hockey mask—ready to unleash chaos once more. Now, a little twist for the eagle-eyed and die-hard obsessives: there might just be not one but two actors lurking in Jason’s tall, murderous shoes across different projects. Intrigued yet? The fog is clearing, but only just enough to peek behind the trees of Camp Crystal Lake’s deadly legends. Care to join me down this shadowy rabbit hole? LEARN MORE
This article was originally published on July 24th, but now we have added an UPDATE.
On Halloween of 2022, it was announced that original Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller – fresh off winning the U.S. copyright to the 1980 film after a lawsuit that stretched on for years – was teaming up with his lawyer Marc Toberoff, franchise rights holder Rob Barsamian, production company A24, the Peacock streaming service, and showrunner Bryan Fuller (whose credits include Hannibal and Pushing Daisies) to develop a new Friday the 13th streaming series called Crystal Lake. Things were moving ahead at a good pace, filming was expected to begin last July, but then the project hit a speed bump at the end of April with the firing of Fuller and his frequent collaborator Jim Danger Gray. Things got back on track in late August with the hiring of a new showrunner – and that person is Brad Caleb Kane, who also serves as co-showrunner and executive producer of It: Welcome to Derry, the It prequel series that’s coming soon to HBO. Production officially began about a month ago, and it has been confirmed that Linda Cardellini (No Good Deed) plays Jason Voorhees’ vengeful mother Pamela Voorhees (and she was recently spotted on set), with Callum Vinson (Chucky season 3) as the young Jason Voorhees. Crystal Lake‘s version of Pamela is believed to be a mother who had given up a singing career to raise a special needs child and takes a dark turn when she loses her son, indicating that the show will give us a glimpse into the Voorhees’ life before Jason’s drowning, then show Pamela going on a homicidal rampage – basically, being an expanded retelling of at least a portion of the original movie’s story. Of course, those events lead to the emergence of an adult Jason Voorhees, who goes on a homicidal rampage of his own. And now, the folks at Dread Central have been informed by “reliable production insiders” that an adult Jason will be showing up at some point in the first season of Crystal Lake!
Dread Central was told that the adult Jason is being played by 6′ 4½″ stuntman Schuyler White, whose credits include V/H/S/85, Haunt, Little Evil, and The Bye Bye Man. White specializes in fire stunts, being the owner of the Ohio Burn Unit entertainment company and holding multiple Guinness World Records for all types of fire stunts – so if they ever want to set his Jason on fire, he’ll be ready for it. White’s adult Jason is expected to appear in just one of the season’s eight episodes. I’m thinking it would make the most sense for him to show up in the season finale, setting up season 2, but that’s just speculation.
UPDATE: Fridaythe13thFranchise.com has shared a report (and they’re backed up by the Crystal Lake IMDb page) that an adult Jason will indeed show up on one episode of the show, but rather than being played by Schuyler White, he’s being played by 5’9″ stuntman Zachary Branch, whose credits include Blue Bloods, History of Evil, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. They note that the mix-up could be due to the fact that Schuyler White is rumored to have played Jason Voorhees in the short film Sweet Revenge, which will be released through the Jason Universe YouTube channel and through a site hosted by Angry Orchard Hard Cider on August 13th. So apparently we’re getting a Zachary Branch Jason in one project and a Schuyler White Jason in another, and we have two different adult Jasons to look forward to seeing in the near future.
The original article continues:
In addition to Cardellini, Vinson, and whoever’s playing adult Jason, the cast of Crystal Lake includes William Catlett (Black Lightning) as a character named Levon Brooks, who may be Crystal Lake’s chief of police; Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem) as Briana Brooks, Cameron Scoggins (Shades of Blue) as Dorf, Gwendolyn Sundstrom (I’m Beginning to See the Light) as Grace, Nick Cordileone (Warrior) as Ralph, Joy Suprano (Best Foot Forward) as Rita, Danielle Kotch (Director’s Cut) as Claudette, Phoenix Parnevik (Bel-Air) as Barry, Nancy Nagrant (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Kay Christy, Victoria Russell (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as Celeste, Natalie Shaw (Daredevil: Born Again) as Pinky, and Austin Colby (Pretty Thing) as Shep.
Friday the 13th fans will recognize some of those names. Dorf was the motorcycle cop who made a visit to Camp Crystal Lake in the original film, Ralph is probably the guy who’s better known as Crazy Ralph, and Barry and Claudette were the names of the first two victims in the original Friday the 13th. Kane confirmed that many legacy characters from the original film will be showing up in the series.
A while back, an article published by The Wrap sought to figure out why Crystal Lake fell apart just a few months before filming was scheduled to begin last time. Their sources gave a lot of conflicting information, but it seemed to boil down to concerns about Fuller’s vision, late scripts, a ballooning budget (it was surpassing the $85 million being provided for the first season), unpaid writers… and possibly A24 executives’ lack of TV experience. In that article, it was mentioned that Charlize Theron was being eyed for the role of Pam Voorhees, the vengeful mother of Jason Voorhees. Industry scooper Daniel Richtman later added, “While they eyed Charlize Theron, Claire Danes had the offer to play Pam Voorhees but she passed. Another interesting bit is that it was only a one-year deal. Meaning the main character would change in season 2.“ It seems likely that Cardellini has made a similar one-season deal, paving the way for adult Jason to take over in future seasons. But we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
In addition to showrunner, Kane will be credited as creator, writer, and executive producer of Crystal Lake. It remains to be seen if he’s using anything from the original Fuller scripts and outlines, or if he scrapped those and started over completely. When he was hired, he provided the following statement: “From the moment I watched Jason Voorhees squeeze a guy’s eyeball out of its socket (in glorious 3D!) at the tender age of 8 years old, I knew my creative path was someday destined to converge with The Man Behind The Mask. Nothing defined my childhood more than growing up in the golden age of the slasher flick, and nothing’s defined the genre more than Friday The 13th. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to contribute a chapter to this iconic franchise, particularly with such fearless partners as Peacock and A24.“ Beyond It: Welcome to Derry, Kane’s TV credits include Fringe, Black Sails, Lodge 49, Moonhaven, Warrior, and Tokyo Vice.
While the show was originally reported to be a Friday the 13th prequel, Fuller’s approach to the material was actually to make each season a deconstruction of the first four Friday the 13th films. “The series would incorporate lore from several sequels but remix that material in a way similar to Fuller’s Hannibal, which interpolated the Thomas Harris novels for three seasons.” So season 1 would be set “in the immediate aftermath of the drowning of a young Jason Voorhees,” and it would center on his mother Pam as she seeks revenge. That doesn’t turn out well for Pam, opening the door for Jason to return and start his own killing spree. Vincenzo Natali (Cube) and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) were going to be directing episodes, while Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson was writing an episode that would have been an hour-long chase sequence “set entirely on a frozen Crystal Lake, with the summer camp’s cabins trapped under snow drifts.” Each episode of Crystal Lake was set to have a budget of $9.6 million, but A24 reportedly wanted to cut that in half. Maybe Kane’s vision has allowed them to do that.
The series is being executive produced by A24, Kane, Marc Toberoff, Victor Miller, Robert M. Barsamian, Robert P. Barsamian, Tyson Bidner, and Stuart Manashil. As Deadline notes, “The project will mark one of A24’s first major IP-driven efforts amid a recent move expand in a more commercial direction.”
Directors on the series include Michael Lennox (Derry Girls), who helms episodes 1 through 3; Celine Held and Logan George (Caddo Lake), directing episodes 4 through 6, and Quyen Tran (Sirens), directing episodes 7 and 8.
Fridaythe13thFranchise.com previously reported that filming was scheduled to begin on June 18th in West Milford, New Jersey, which is about an hour drive away from where the original movie was filmed, and will last through November 21st. “The show is set in the 1970s, but multiple organizations reference the year 1971 specifically.” Recent casting calls have been searching for teens, summer camp kids, swimming campers, experienced lifeguards, and canoeing and archery camp counselors.
Are you glad to hear that an adult Jason Voorhees might be showing up on Crystal Lake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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