Everyone knows Jason Voorhees as the hockey-mask wearing killer of the Friday the 13th franchise, but is it possible he has a connection to the Evil Dead universe? According to one comic, Mrs. Voorhees’ favorite boy may in fact be a Deadite.
The comic in question that reveals Jason’s Deadite heritage is 2007/2008’s Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash, the monumental crossover series between the Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Evil Dead franchises. Co-published by DC’s Wildstorm imprint and Dynamite Entertainment, the six-issue miniseries began life as a film sequel to 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, the long-awaited mash-up of those slasher icons. Film producer Jeff Katz wrote a treatment for a follow-up to that film that saw Freddy and Jason going up against Evil Dead’s Ash Williams, but the proposed sequel was ultimately nixed by actor Bruce Campbell. Never letting a good idea go to waste, Katz instead pitched it as a comic, and the rest is history.
Is Jason a Deadite in Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash?
Coming from the creative team of Jeff Katz, James Kuhoric, Jason Craig, Thomas Mason and Jared K. Fletcher, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash picks up where the 2003 movie left off, as the spirit of Freddy Krueger is trapped in Jason’s mind and wants to use the Necronomicon Ex Mortis to resurrect himself after being decapitated. Freddy uses Jason to track down the haunted tome, which of course soon brings him into contact with one Ashley J. Williams. Where things really get interesting, however, is the revelation that the Necronomicon has been hidden away in the old Voorhees home.
While this may seem like an extraordinarily convenient turn of events, the Necronomicon/Voorhees connection was already set up years earlier. In 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the Necronomicon is seen in Pamela Voorhees’ old home. Jason Goes to Hell director Adam Marcus has made it known in the past that he intended this not only as a fun Easter egg, but also confirmation that Jason was a Deadite resurrected by his mother using the Necronomicon. The filmmaker thought it was a way to explain Jason’s zombie-like state throughout the latter films. This explanation was all unofficial, of course, as the Evil Dead rights were held by a separate studio. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash makes this idea official series canon, revealing that Pam Voorhees did indeed use the cursed book to bring her son back to life, effectively making Marcus’ unofficial crossover official Friday the 13th canon.
It’s unlikely that Ash and Jason Voorhees will share the screen anytime soon in an Evil Dead/Friday the 13th crossover film, but true fans will always know that Jason is a Deadite thanks to the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash comic series.
