Summary
Longtime fans of theEvil Deadfranchise might have enjoyed the rebooted films so far, but there’s still a lot of demand to see the original protagonist make a real return to the lead role, and now the iconic actor behind the role has laid out the requirements for that.
TheEvil Deadfranchise has been a cornerstone of the horror genre since the first film dropped. After the original trilogy with Bruce Campbell in the lead role as Ash Williams, the franchise would get a reboot in 2013, which really brought the IP back into relevance for the mainstream. In all that time, the franchise has seen a fair amount of crossovers and adaptations across all sorts of media, albeit not as manygame adaptations as some of the more contemporary horror IPs. While he’s been involved and done a lot of voice work as the character, Campbell has not made a proper return to his iconic role in live-action since that third film.
In addition to making an uncredited post-credits appearance in the first reboot film,Campbell also made a vanishingly quick cameo inEvil Dead Riseand served as a producer on both projects. This light involvement has done little to satiate the audience’s thirst to see him return as Ash Williams in full force, and the star recently laid down his terms for any potential return. “If Sam says, ‘I, Sam Raimi, will direct another ‘Evil Dead’ movie,’ then I, Bruce Campbell, will consider being in it,” Campbell revealed in a recent interview withFangoria. “I don’t want to be Ash, tended to by other people. Sam’s the meanest director I’ve ever worked with, and Ash needs a little bit of that to shine. And I think Sam’s the only director now who I won’t punch in the face making an ‘Evil Dead’ movie!I’m just saying, I’ve called Rob [Tapert] and Sam out,I’m not the coward that they think I am; I just want the right circumstances.”
As far as iconic actors making demands to return to a franchise, fans can’t say that Campbell is asking for a lot here. Raimi directed all three films in the original trilogy that ended withArmy of Darkness,which starred Campbell in the lead as Ash, making the actor’s allegiance to the filmmaker easy to understand. While there arethings thatEvil Dead Risedid better than previous entriesin the franchise, and the same could be said for the first reboot film, the creative vision that Raimi had at the start of the franchise is certainly something that the newer films don’t quite match one to one. As Campbell says, Raimi might be the only filmmaker he can work with on the character with the same sort of chemistry the two had when creating the franchise from scratch. With Campbell’s advanced age and a whole new audience that isn’t quite familiar with the sort of grit that Ash brought to the table in the first trilogy, a return to the original formula behind the scenes could be essential for the success of the performance on screen. That would inarguably be the right circumstance, as Campbell desires.
While he’s had a solid career outside of the franchise,The Evil Deadis still easilyCampbell’s best movie performance, and fans will probably never completely let go of the idea that he could make a substantial return to the role that made him a household name for many. If someone can convince Sam Raimi to take time out after 2026’sSend Helpto work on a newEvil Deadproject, fans just might get their wish to see old man Ash kicking some deadite tailbone in all his gruff glory.
TheEvil Deadfranchise is available to stream on Max. '
