2025 marks the 45th anniversary of the release of one of the most popular horror movies ever made, Friday the 13th. Last year, the Friday the 13th franchise rights holders at Horror Inc. announced that they were launching the Jason Universe, which would encompass “new Friday the 13th activations that will span a wide range of platforms from entertainment, games, immersive experiences, merchandise and more to be announced @JasonUniverse13 on social media or by visiting the official Jason Universe website.” As part of the celebration, Horror Inc. has teamed up with Angry Orchard Hard Cider to produce a 13 minute short film called Sweet Revenge – and while preparing to bring Jason Voorhees back to the screen, they also brought in legendary special effects artist Greg Nicotero to give the character a bit of a redesign. An image of Nicotero’s Jason has been going around for a few months, and now Nicotero has finally given a comment on his approach to the redesign.
When asked about it by ComicBook.com, Nicotero said, “They said, ‘We want to reimagine him, and so we did this new mask, then we did a new Jason.’ They’re like, ‘He’s not a zombie, so he’s not going to be rotted.’ So we landed somewhere between Part 2 and Part 3. It was a lot of fun. It’s fun for me to revisit those. We did Nightmare on Elm Street, we did Halloween, we did three Scream movies, we did Leatherface. We’re the only company that’s really touched all of those big franchises, except for Hellraiser.“
When Nicotero’s design was unveiled, Horror Inc. president Robert Barsamian said, “We strive to maintain Jason’s original essence, while continuing to move toward the future with a defined look and feel that takes Jason into his next chapter. We’re also working with both familiar and fresh franchise voices to strike that balance. We gave Greg our new 13-hole mask and worked together on this full-body look that embodies classic Jason. He’s a strong, towering and terrifying slasher with a machete, his weapon of choice.“
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