Bruce Campbell says an animated Evil Dead movie could happen and might we even see him back in live-action as Ash?

Hard as it is to believe, it’s almost five years since the legend that is Bruce Campbell announced he was done playing Ash Williams, the anti-hero he played for four decades in the Evil Dead series (here).

I was devastated. Ash was as important as Indy, Han, or Venkman… but we understood that Campbell is getting on and the role of the only man who can stop the Deadites is an intensive one.

“It’s time. I followed Ash from his formative years thru his mid-life crisis and decline. What a thrill! What a privilege!” 

He continued: “Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.”

And this manifested itself in the form of a new Evil Dead movie, Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise which stars Nell Fisher, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan and hits screens next month (trailer below – it’s the gory one, so be cautious). Although technically a reboot, it is, according to Cronin, set in the world of Ash and the original Deadites.

And we assumed that we were done with Ash. Three movies, a cameo and a series – not to mention games, comics etc – so we couldn’t complain.

But now Campbell has gone and done it… he’s offered us hope.

In a new interview, Campbell confirms that a new Evil Dead project is being discussed and it’s… animated.

“All I can say is we’re actively pursuing it.

“Sam’s [Raimi] a busy guy. He had a big hit movie, so he’s got a lot on his plate, but he and his brother are actively shaping out the world. It’s one thing to get an animator and say, ‘Hey, animate this!’ You’ve got to know what you’re going to animate. I look forward to it, because my voice hasn’t aged as much as I have.”

Campbell, of course has one of the most recognisable voices in the busy, laced with sarcasm and wit, the man could read the phone book and make it sound great, so having an animated adventure with Ash chasing down the Necronomicon and the spawn of the devil sounds like a very attractive one, indeed.

However, there may be something even more exciting on the horizon.

Director Sam Raimi has said he’s still developing installments – live-action installments – that will hopefully allow him to work with Campbell and producer Rob Tapert again.

“I love working with Bruce and Rob,” Raimi revealed to Empire Magazine. “I love it as a producer because they’re really good partners, but I also like being supported by them as the director. So I hope that is on the cards eventually.”

Director explains how Evil Dead Rise connects to the original trilogy

So, what could he be developing? If Campbell doesn’t want to come back as a star of the franchise again, there’s still at least three ways we could see Ash Williams again, even if just in cameos.

Firstly, as we said above, Evil Dead Rise is set in the prime universe of the Evil Dead and, should it get a sequel, there’s likely a place for the characters in that movie to meet Ash and battle the Deadites together.

Secondly, the wonderfully bloody, silly and fun Ash Vs Evil Dead series wrapped in 2018 and had a cracking cliffhanger ending; it could easily have Cambell return to that story in a cameo capacity as it introduced a whole new crew of Deadite hunters, so he need not be centre stage.

But there’s also a potential sequel to Fede Alvarez’s great 2013 Evil Dead reboot which saw a whole new cast discover the Necronomicon for the first time but at the end it teased that Ash may well be involved in a sequel… that we’re still waiting on.

Continues after clip:

Back in 2018 Alvarez discussed making a sequel to the movie and, while it’s some time ago now, he was very hopeful it would happen, saying: “going back at some point will be a possibility. I mean, I’m really good friends with all those guys, with Bruce, and [director] Sam [Raimi], and [producer] Rob [Tapert]. So, we always chat about it.”

He added: “We will just make them if we believe there’s a story that has to be told, and is awesome, and is great, and we believe that it will be better than anything that will be done before in that world. [When] we find that story, when we all agree on what it is, it will probably happen.”

If that happens, Campbell could certainly make an appearance  – and we hope he does.

Jason Vorhees is officially a Deadite

Speaking about Alvarez’s movie, Raimi says: “That character, Mia [played by Jane Levy], was great, so I was very interested. We had been talking about an Evil Dead IV for the other branch of that universe, and we were worried a little bit about a collision. Ash vs. Evil Dead is what that morphed into. But I always thought there was room for both. I still think there’s room for all sorts of Evil Dead movies. I don’t think they cancel each other out.”

It’s great that Raimi is still hoping to do more projects with Campbell, it’s great that he hasn’t forgotten that Alvarez’s movie ended on a cliffhanger that fans have been itching to see resolved even ten years later and it’s also great that they’re exploring new avenues such as animation. You have to have a shared universe these days and I can think of none more exciting than the Evil Dead one.

A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

“Evil Dead Rise” is slated to open in cinemas on April 21st 2023.

Source: Comicbook