Greg Nicotero was surprised by the negative response to Jason Universe’s redesign of Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask
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. 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. During a new interview, Nicotero confirmed that Jason Universe had already redesigned the hockey mask before they contacted him – and he was surprised that a lot of fans have reacted negatively to Jason’s new look.
Speaking with YouTuber Born2BeRad, Nicotero explained how he got involved with this project: “A friend of mine owns a company, he did a bunch of merchandising for Creepshow and Walking Dead and I’ve known the guy for a long time and he goes, ‘Hey, these people are looking for somebody to make a mask.’ So when (Jason Universe) came to us, they came to me with a design already and they’re like, ‘This is what we want it to look like,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, it’s kind of interesting, the shape of the eyes and this and that.’ So we did a physical version of it and it took months to play with the shape, ‘Maybe we should try this and maybe we should change this, maybe we should change that, change this and change this.’ We actually sculpted a Jason bust that nobody’s seen because they wanted us to create a look, which I think is really great. In terms of the mask, I’m a little surprised that people are so polarized by it because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the design. I think it’s kind of interesting and it still feels part of the DNA but it’s a little stylized in terms of the shape of the eyes and the shape of the face. But you know what? You’re never going to win with the fans of any genre because the minute that you change it just a little bit, people will react.“
Nicotero said that Jason Universe wanted him to make the mask look exactly like the image they provided for him, and were resistant to any alterations. But for the rest of the design, they were open to anything. “The character that we designed, I love it, it’s really neat, because they gave me free range to design what I wanted to.” He previously told ComicBook.com that their only specification is that this Jason would not be a rotting zombie, so he went for something along the lines of the Jason we saw in parts 2 and 3. Even though the mask was designed before he got involved, “I don’t think it’s a bad mask, I think it’s kind of cool, actually. It’s different, and in this day and age, I like different.“
As for why Jason Universe felt the need to redesign the hockey mask at all, replacing the 31-hole original with a 13-hole mask, “It’s very possible that they made changes on the mask so that they could copyright it, so that they could own it, because it’s not just a typical hockey mask. I wouldn’t doubt that.“
The full interview can be viewed right here:
Nicotero gave Jason Universe the new Jason design with their redesigned hockey mask on it, made them twenty physical copies of the mask, and that was the end of their collaboration for now. He didn’t even have any involvement with Sweet Revenge, which brought his Jason design to the screen. During the interview, he mentions that he thinks another short film will be going into production soon, but that’s all he said about it and that hasn’t been officially announced.
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.“
Although I’ll never like it as much as the 31-hole hockey mask I’ve known and loved for decades, I think the 13-hole version of the mask could work, if that’s what we’re stuck with for now… but I haven’t seen a version of it that I’ve liked yet, not even in Sweet Revenge, where it looked strange and huge. There’s still some fine tuning left to do on this thing.
What do you think of Jason Universe’s hockey mask redesign, and their collaboration with Greg Nicotero? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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