Ash vs. Evil Dead's Bruce Campbell Confirms Talks Are Happening for Animated Revival
In the years following the release of Army of Darkness, audiences were given multiple Evil Dead video games featuring Bruce Campbell reprising the role of Ash Williams, and with the TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead getting cancelled in 2018, Campbell confirmed that talks are happening to revive the series in animation. The actor himself confirmed when he wrapped production on Season 3 that he would be done playing the character in live-action, based on the physical requirements of the concept, but animation allows him to continue the character without the physical exertion. Additionally, the effectiveness of adult-oriented animated series like Invincible have proven how well mature stories can be told in the medium.
"You can do the future a lot easier in animation. I still sound like Ash, and you know, my voice hasn't been as beat up as my body has been so I can still do that crap," Campbell confirmed with Collider. "So I'll still do the video game. And we're already talking about an animated [series]."
Campbell debuted in the Evil Dead franchise 40 years ago, starring in three feature films. As any horror fan can tell you, his performance as Ash is iconic for a number of reasons, one of them being the physical punishment not only the character suffered through, but what they specifically saw Campbell himself endure. Even though Ash vs. Evil Dead came out nearly 20 years after the final installment in the trilogy, it didn't skimp on the intense nature of the premise.
"Whatever the cliched phrase is, I left it all on table. I've got nothing else to give," Campbell shared of the experience to Collider last year. "The three seasons were the longest seasons of my life. If you saw the emails pleading with various directors that were like, 'Hey, my knee's not working right. Be careful about tomorrow. Let's have the stunt guy nearby. Hey, I can't run anymore.' It just was an endless physical struggle. I'm really glad we did it because we saw Ash's home, we went into his bedroom, we met his girlfriends, we met his daughter that we never knew he had and that he never knew he had, and we met his father, played by the great Lee Majors."
He added, "I feel we really pushed all the buttons and he fulfilled his destiny written in that ancient book. He was the guy destined to defeat evil in the past, present and future, and he took off with a hot robot chick at the end to go kick in the future. What else do you need? We knew the ratings were bad. We knew, going into the last season, that we had to have an end because we didn't think Starz was gonna re-up us and we were right. So, thank God we did that."
Stay tuned for details on the possible future of the animated Ash vs. Evil Dead.
Would you like to see the series return in animation? Let us know in the comments below!