A groundswell of support for wrestler/MMA fighter CM Punk to succeed Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams in the Evil Dead franchsie picked up steam earlier today, and now the groovy original actor has sounded off on the fan casting! Campbell officially retired from the franchise following three seasons of Ash Vs. Evil Dead which has fans eager to see a new version of the character, and with CM Punk making waves in horror cinema by starring in Girl on the Third Floor and the upcoming reboot of Rabid he’s a fair candidate. Though it seems like Campbell agrees with the notion…there’s nothing quite like the original as Campbell is eager to point out.
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“You know what? CM Punk is great!” Campbell said. “He should play a guy in a horror series named Nash, or Bash, or Lash. With all due respect, the name Ash is, like the best table at a restaurant, reserved.”
The Evil Dead franchise was first started by director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell, and several others that were looking to create an amazing horror movie on a shoe string budget. With the success of the original, the series warranted sequels in the form of Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, even getting a television series on Starz in Ash Vs. Evil Dead. A remake to the franchise that was sans-Ash and instead focused on a new group of characters running into the Book of the Dead was released back in 2013, but there may be a new adventure on the horizon.
You know what? CM Punk is great! He should play a guy in a horror series named Nash, or Bash, or Lash. With all due respect, the name Ash is, like the best table at a restaurant, reserved. https://t.co/IwFidPQRDv
— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) March 4, 2020
“We’re producing more Evil Dead movies. Maybe one later this year,” Campbell revealed at Fan Expo Vancouver earlier this year. “Sam Raimi’s handpicked the next guy to make another creepy Evil Dead film. It just won’t have Ash. There are more stories to tell.”
Details on which filmmaker will step behind the camera for the next movie in the franchise have not been revealed, but it certainly seems like a name has already been written in blood in the book of the dead. As for Raimi himself, he’ll be jumping feet first into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, stepping behind the camera to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of madness.
