From the Ring to Crystal Lake: Braun Strowman Wants to Be the Next Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees has spent years stuck in development hell and then years stuck in legal limbo. Now he is finally edging back toward actual screens again. A24 and Peacock are building out the prequel series 'Crystal Lake' (rumor mill says an adult Jason shows up at some point), and a recent short called 'Sweet Revenge' brought the mask back on camera. The knock on that short from a lot of fans: the guy under the mask didn’t feel scary enough. Enter a very large man who would like a word.

So who wants the mask?

Adam Scherr — you probably know him from wrestling as Braun Strowman — says he is actively angling to be the next Jason. Scherr is 6'8", so the size is absolutely not an issue. He was at Fantastic Fest for the world premiere of the horror-comedy sequel 'Deathgasm II: Goremageddon', and Collider caught up with him to ask which horror franchise he wants to crash and who he wants to play.

His answer was instant: 'Oh, Friday the 13th. Jason.'

'There may be some talks about it with people that I know and my agency. If we could ever get everybody to get back on the same page and allow the things to work, I might be the next Voorhees.'

He also said he would shave the beard without hesitation for the role. And yes, talking about the possibility reportedly gave him goosebumps in the middle of the chat. If you track down the interview, the Jason talk kicks in around the 9:58 mark.

About that 'not intimidating' talk

'Sweet Revenge' put Jason back in the wild recently, with stuntman Schuyler White — 6'4.5" — doing the slicing. Height wasn’t the issue; some fans just felt the build didn’t sell the menace. Scherr would not have that problem. Of course, Jason doesn’t have to be a bodybuilder to be terrifying — Ted White in 'Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter' wasn’t a hulking cartoon and he is still nightmare fuel — but a legit giant like Scherr could bring a different kind of presence.

• The franchise has been stuck for years between development stalls and a long-running copyright fight.
• A24 and Peacock are developing 'Crystal Lake', a prequel series that is rumored to include an adult Jason.
• Jason popped up recently in the short 'Sweet Revenge' — fans debated whether that Jason felt intimidating enough; he was played by 6'4.5" stuntman Schuyler White.
• Adam Scherr (6'8", formerly WWE’s Braun Strowman) wants the job and says there have been early talks via his reps.
• Scherr appears in 'Deathgasm II: Goremageddon', which just had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. In a Collider interview from the fest, he said 'Oh, Friday the 13th. Jason.' and added he would shave his beard for it; he even got goosebumps discussing it. The Jason bit starts around 9:58.

Bottom line: if the rights wrangling truly settles and everyone ends up on the same page, Scherr sounds ready to pick up the machete. Would you want to see him as Jason Voorhees? Tell me below.