Peacock’s Friday the 13th Prequel Doesn’t Focus on Jason & That’s a Problem

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HBO Max’s new series was a big success, earning positive reviews as a prequel to the recent It movies. While the terrifying clown, Pennywise, wasn’t heavily featured at first, his role grew as the season went on. A similar approach is planned for another upcoming show, but it feels less effective in this case.

The new Peacock series, Crystal Lake, will be a prequel to the Friday the 13th movies, mainly telling the story of Pamela Voorhees. Because of this focus on her backstory, the show won’t feature much of Jason Voorhees, the famous killer from the franchise. While understandable considering the timeline, this approach unfortunately continues a disappointing pattern seen in other horror series.

The Newest Friday the 13th Project Has an Unexpected Focus

The series faced some developmental setbacks and later switched showrunners, going from Nick Antosca to Brad Caleb Kane. Filming wrapped up in October 2025 in Blairstown – the same location used for the original film. It’s currently scheduled to premiere on Peacock in 2026, most likely in the fall, as a seasonal offering for Halloween.

Details about the upcoming show have been revealed, including the identity of a key cast member. They will be playing a character originally made famous by Betsy Palmer, who played Jason’s mother in the first Friday the 13th movie.

The show will revisit the story with a twist, potentially sparking debate. Instead of focusing on Jason Voorhees, Pamela Voorhees will be the central character, giving actress Mary Cardellini a chance to showcase her skills in a new way. This casting choice follows a trend of actors becoming well-known figures within the horror genre.

As a huge Friday the 13th fan, I totally get the decision to center the prequel, Crystal Lake, around Jason’s mother. It makes perfect sense considering the original film kicked things off with a flashback to Jason’s childhood. I’m excited to see young Callum Vinson as Jason, and it sounds like the show will keep him as a child throughout. But honestly, it’s a bit of a bittersweet choice. The whole franchise lives and breathes on Jason as the terrifying villain, and we won’t get to see that on this show. It’s smart storytelling, but it means the core of what makes Friday the 13th so popular won’t actually be in the series.

Crystal Lake Follows the Trend of Too Many Prequels

Crystal Lake shares a similar approach to many prequel series, particularly those based on horror properties. A recent example is ‘It: Welcome to Derry,’ which is set years before the ‘It’ remake. Like that series, ‘Crystal Lake’ doesn’t fully explore its central threat until later episodes. This is reminiscent of the original ‘It’ novel and series, where the story primarily followed the group of friends terrorized by Pennywise, with the monster itself serving mainly as the villain.

However, Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th films actually works well as a background threat, so not making him the central character isn’t necessarily a problem. It does, though, continue the trend of extending franchises with prequels that don’t really focus on what makes the original films popular.

Fans are really eager to see Jason Voorhees return, as it’s been a long time since a new film. The Friday the 13th series, like many classic slasher franchises, has struggled in recent years. While Halloween has continued with new installments, even popular series like Nightmare on Elm Street haven’t had new movies since the early 2000s. Because of this, a prequel show focusing on Jason’s mother – the villain from the first film – and featuring a young, disfigured Jason might not fully satisfy what fans are hoping for.

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Releasing this around the time of a new movie that continued the main storyline would have helped, but as it stands, it’s basically using the Friday the 13th name to tell a separate story, and it doesn’t even include the things fans expect from the series.

This approach echoes some horror spinoffs from the 1990s, but it’s a formula best left in the past. Both franchises launched TV shows in the 80s and 90s, but those shows largely ignored the storylines established in the films. Freddy Krueger’s show, Freddy’s Nightmares, mostly used him as a spooky host, although one episode explored his backstory. Unfortunately, Friday the 13th: The Series only used the name for branding and had no connection to the original Camp Crystal Lake or Jason Voorhees.

The new series doesn’t really break new ground, which is disappointing. A well-made show focusing on Jason’s backstory, similar to today’s popular dramatic TV shows, could have really brought the franchise back to life. Despite making sense chronologically, this prequel isn’t what the Friday the 13th series needed. So, fans looking for a classic Jason Voorhees slasher experience will have to look elsewhere, as he’s too young to be that villain in this show.

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2025-12-24 23:37