Oh, dip. Did some casting agency just give away some massive JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 spoilers?? Meh. I don't know about that… I guess you could say, "if the filmmakers didn't want the info released – it's a spoiler." And you might be right. But when the reveal makes this much sense (especially as a sequel) I don't know if I'd call it spoilers as much as "being ahead of the curve." Whatever. Either way. Let's get to it.
Here's the JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 plot as listed back in March of last year:
JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 will show events on the last day of the Creeper’s twenty-three day feeding frenzy, as the skeptical Sergeant Tubbs teams up with a task force hellbent on destroying the Creeper for good. The Creeper fights back in gory glory as its enemies grow closer than ever before to learning the secret of its dark origins.
Also, from back in March, the story was to focus on a character named Gaylen. And a rundown of the plot at that time when like this:
Twenty three years ago Gaylen’s son Kenny Brandon was one of the Creeper’s victims. Leaving in this shattered woman a burning vendetta. When her long dead son starts to appear to her with warnings about the creature who killed him – Gaylen plots to use the information to end the creature once and for all.
Now for the life of me, I can't figure out who this "Gaylen" person is. Forgive me if I missed something. That said, I think the character Gaylen was nothing more than a ruse to keep peeps from discovering who JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 is ACTUALLY about:
— HERE COME THE POSSIBLE SPOILERS —
Trish. Aka Gina Philips. Aka Justin Long's sister from the first flick! Now we already knew Gina Philips would be back, giving The Creeper what-for, but not until now did we know she would be the LEAD of the film. Pretty damn cool.
Per Bloody Disgusting, casting website MEW carries this alternate synopsis:
“Trish Jenner is now a mother of a teenage son named Darry, named after the brother she lost 23 years ago. Trish has a recurring nightmare where her son suffers the same fate as her brother did, killed by the Creeper. Determined to prevent this from happening, Trish, who is now a rich and powerful woman, sets out on a final quest with Jack Taggart Sr. and Jr. to end the Creeper’s reign of terror once and for all. The Creeper fights back in gory glory as its enemies grow closer than ever before to learning the secret of its dark origins.”
As you can see this new synopsis is basically a hodgepodge of the previous two. With the notable difference in subbing "skeptical Sergeant Tubbs" for Jack Taggart (aka Ray Wise) and this Gaylen chick for O.G. Creeper-fighter Trish (Gina Philips). Sounds like two good trade-offs to me!
JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 (or JEEPERS CREEPERS: THE CATHEDRAL) still does not have an official release date, but we can all rejoice in the fact that The Creeper will once again be played by Jonathan Breck. Nice. More info to come as it "creeps" in. Har. Har.