I Am Dying To See Crystal Lake But Have Questions About The Friday The 13th Prequel Series

Crystal Lake is among the latest in a recent trend to make TV shows spun off from classic horror movies – in this case, Friday the 13th. The hit horror movie franchise is made up of 12 features (if you include Freddy vs. Jason) and the lucky 13th installment is coming in the form of one of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror TV shows (as well as an upcoming A24 TV show).

Due to a few behind-the-scenes shake-ups (including the exit of a previous showrunner and worries that the project was officially canceled), the show has been in development since 2022 and there is still no telling when it will finally be available to stream with a Peacock subscription. At least that gives me plenty of time to speculate over some questions I have about Jason Voorhees’ small screen return in Crystal Lake.

Quick Facts About Crystal Lake

Before I discuss some of the things that Crystal Lake has me racking my brain over, let’s unmask some some of the confirmed facts that we know about the series so far.

• Crystal Lake Has No Set Premiere Date
• The Series Is Said To Take Place Before 1980's Friday The 13th
• Brad Caleb Kane Is The Showrunner
• Crystal Lake Is Produced Under A24

Questions I Have About Crystal Lake

Just how does Crystal Lake intend to reimagine the origins of one of the most iconic horror movie villains, Jason Voorhees? I am wondering the same thing myself, among other things about the series.

Will Any Of The Orignal Scripts Be Used?

Before Crystal Lake was temporarily put on hold in 2024 and, later, Deadline reported that Brad Caleb Kane (who is also running Max’s upcoming It prequel series, Welcome to Derry) was brought on as the new showrunner, Hannibal developer Bryan Fuller was leading the charge and had hired Kevin Williamson as a writer, as reported by Bloody-Disgusting in 2023. According to his X post, the Scream movies creator (who is helming Scream 7) described the episode as an hour-long chase sequence, which is something I would very much like to see. That being said, there is no telling right now how much of the scripts written under Fuller will be used under the new management but I hope not too much is changing.

Who Is Adrienne King Playing?

So far, the only actor known to appear in the Crystal Lake cast is the Friday the 13th franchise’s original iconic Final Girl, Adrienne King, who confirmed the news on her official website. Considering the series going to be a prequel, she will clearly not be reprising Alice Hardy – who was killed in the beginning of Friday the 13th Part 2 – which begs the question of who she will be playing this time. She could be appearing as a veteran a camp counselor, or a parent or grandparent of a young attendee, but I would be absolutely ecstatic to learn that she was really taking over the role of the terrifying female horror villain herself, Jason’s mother Pamela Voorhees, whose head was removed by Alice at the climax of the original film. Talk about becoming your own worst enemy, if it proves to be true.

Will Other Franchise Veterans Appear?

The casting of Adrienne King has me wondering (or, more accurately, hoping), if she will be the first of several actors added to the Crystal Lake cast whose previous involvement in Friday the 13th movies made them into horror movie icons. For instance, it would be fun to at least see a cameo by Corey Feldman (the first actor to play Tommy Jarvis in 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) or Kane Hodder, a veteran stuntman who became one of the most beloved actors to portray Jason Voorhees after joining the franchise in 1988 with Friday the 13th: The New Blood, or Kevin Bacon, who was relatively unknown when his character suffered one of the original slasher movie classic‘s most unique kills. An especially epic idea might be to involve Ari Lehman – the very first actor to play Jason in that shocking jump scare from the end of the first film.

Will The Series Explore The Lake's Origin?

Crystal Lake has an opportunity, not just to explore the history of the eponymous body of water before the “cursed” camp was established, but to also provide an explanation for one of the most perplexing mysteries surrounding the franchise: how does Jason Voorhees manage to keep coming back from the dead over and over again? Does the lake possess some sort of supernatural power to turn those who bathe in its waters into the undead? Unless the series instead chooses to honor the clues from 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday that Jason is a Deadite like from the Evil Dead movies, it might, at least, be a fun idea to mess around with.

Will Crystal Lake Pay Any Homage To Friday The 13th: The Series?

I know I said earlier that Crystal Lake was going to the long-awaited 13th installment of the Friday the 13th franchise but that is not entirely true and, in fact, it will not even be the first TV show connected to the hit movies. From 1987 to 1990, CBS aired Friday the 13th: The Series, which served as a spin-off from the films, but only in name as it has virtually nothing to do with Crystal Lake or Jason Voorhees and instead follows two young antique store owners tasked with recovering lost, cursed items. I realize that this new show’s objective is to explore the origins of the camp and its hockey-masked boogeyman but it would be cool to see it at least include some subtle reference to the franchise's original, Emmy-nominated small screen installment.

Following the acclaimed receptions to TV shows like Chucky (which follows the pint-sized killer from the Child’s Play franchise) and Ash vs. Evil Dead (which sees Bruce Campbell reprise his resourceful horror movie character), I am happy to see that there are more TV shows based on horror movies on the rise. I think that, if handled with the utmost passion for the material, Crystal Lake has the potential to be one of the best and bloodiest of the bunch so far.