With his iconic role as Ash Williams, Bruce Campbell has been a major part of the Evil Dead franchise since the very first film was released 45 years ago. Many fans have been hopeful that Ash will be back in action with his trusty chainsaw hand at least one more time, but that is apparently not in the cards for the future of the franchise.
Ahead of the next installment of the franchise hitting the big screen this summer, Campbell addressed Ash’s current place in the Evil Dead universe during a new interview with the Detroit Free Press. He reaffirmed that the Ash character is not planned to be a big part of any upcoming Evil Dead project. As the franchise has gone into new directions, Evil Dead has “moved away” from Ash, suggesting that the success of 2023’s Evil Dead Rise has proven that the movie series can survive without him.
Ash Has Taken a Back Seat in the Evil Dead Franchise
“No, no. I think I think basically from Evil Dead Rise on, Ash is … you know, they wanted some little gag of Ash at the end of the movie. We did that as a lark,” Campbell explains. “He’s not part of any big overriding story or scheme… [The franchise has] done three things: We moved away from the cabin, we’ve moved away from Sam Raimi, we’ve moved away from Ash and Bruce Campbell.”
The beloved actor continues, “Thankfully, Evil Dead Rise made the most of any money we’ve made from any Evil Dead, so far, and it validated the fact that we can get away from those main elements. You’ve got to find a new audience, because the original Evil Dead fans, you get some of them, you’re not going to get all of them, because they like those original elements. They like me and Sam and Ash and all that sort of crap.”
Ash vs. Evil Dead Was Ash Williams’ Swan Song
Campbell’s final live-action performance as Ash was on the Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which spanned three seasons between 2015 and 2018. When the show ended at the time, Campbell announced that he was retiring from playing the role in a live-action capacity, though he remains open to providing the voice of Ash for animation and video games, if needed. He has previously teased plans to make an animated Evil Dead project, which could see him voicing Ash, but the current state of that endeavor is unclear.
Meanwhile, Campbell remains involved with the movies by working on them behind the scenes as a producer. He also notably had a hidden cameo in Evil Dead Rise, as his voice can be heard on a phonograph recording that’s played in the film. Director Lee Cronin has said that he considers this voice to actually be that of Ash Williams in a different time period, a reference to the character’s time-traveling as seen in Army of Darkness.
As for what’s next, the apparent plan at this point is for different filmmakers to tell their own standalone stories in the Evil Dead universe, each with their own set of original characters. Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn is next on the lineup with its release on July 10, 2026. This will be followed by Francis Galluppi’s Evil Dead Wrath, which is slated for a theatrical release on Apr. 7, 2028.
- Video Game(s)
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Evil Dead: The Game
- First Film
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The Evil Dead
- First TV Show
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Ash Vs. Evil Dead
- Cast
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Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies
- Created by
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Sam Raimi