Who would win in a battle between Halloween's Michael Myers or Friday The 13th's Jason Voorhees? Freddy Vs Jason may have been a big success but it took over a decade to reach screens. The pairing of Jason with A Nightmare On Elm Street's Freddy had been a fan dream for years, and a crossover was first mooted for Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood, but an agreement couldn't be reached between the rights holders. The movie was heavily teased with the ending of 1993's Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, but the project would go through countless scripts and directors before the movie finally arrived.
The movie's success found studios digging into their vaults for other potential crossovers, with Alien Vs Predator being given a greenlight. Other proposed battles included Helloween, a crossover pitting Michael Myers against Hellraiser's Pinhead. Franchise creators John Carpenter and Clive Barker were surprisingly open to the idea too, with the former set to direct while the latter would pen the script, but it soon fell apart. Proposed sequel Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash also came to nothing, while Tony Todd nixed the mere suggestion of a Candyman Vs Leprechaun movie.
In hindsight, it's a surprise more of these slasher crossovers didn't happen at the time - even if they rarely satisfied. Fans are still obsessed with these theoretical fights, however, and would be particularly eager to see Michael and Jason duke it out in a Halloween/Friday crossover. The question, who would win? Well, the 2019 fan short Michael Vs Jason: Evil Emerges helps shed a little light on the topic.
Michael Vs Jason: Evil Emerges is short from Radical Talent that pits a resurrected Jason against Michael, who appears to be based on the Halloween 2018 version. The movie consists of a crunchy, well-choreographed fight between the two titans and helps illustrated their strengths and weaknesses. Jason is the more aggressive of the two and is always on the attack, while Michael is more methodical and patient. It's admittedly a bit strange seeing The Shape throwing so many punches, which feels a little closer to the Rob Zombie version than the John Carpenter one.
Michael Vs Jason: Evil Emerges ultimately leans in favor of the latter when it comes to choosing victor, as Jason typically wins in most of their fights. The short ends with him hacking off Michael's hand and "killing" him, though the final shot confirms the battle will continue. Freddy Vs Jason did something similar with its ending too, suggesting both characters technically won the titular fight. Since both Michael and Jason are seemingly unkillable, unless one tosses the other into a volcano, it's hard to pick a definite winner. Friday The 13th's Jason might conquer with sheer brute force and creative weaponry, but Halloween's Michael just doesn't stay down either. Like Michael Vs Jason: Evil Emerges suggests, let's call it a tie for now.