It’s been over 20 years since Ash ( Bruce
Campbell ) fought off the deadites, and in that
span, fans have clamored for the character to
return. Evil Dead came back as a remake but
without Ash, and looking at the angry, ugly nature
of that film, his absence was for the best. Now
Ash will be back for real with the Evil Dead TV
series , which will run 10 half-hour episodes on
Starz in late 2015. Campbell will return to play
his iconic character, and Sam Raimi , who
directed the original trilogy of Evil Dead movies,
will helm the pilot and executive produce.
Campbell, ever the raconteur, recently spoke to
EW about the show and what fans can expect—in
short, they should be very pleased because the
actor knows his character and this franchise
inside and out.
Campbell spent a substantial portion of his EW
interview explaining that we’ll be seeing the Ash
we all know and love even though he’s kind of
character you’d feel uncomfortable knowing and
probably hate. Here are some of Campbell’s best
quotes on the bumbling deadite-killer:
Something we’re doing is taking the horror parts
very seriously. We’re not making fun of the horror
aspects. And it’s going to cause Ash—this crabby
middle-aged man who doesn’t want to get
dragged back into this—a lot of problems. He’s
not the Ash he used to be.
He continues being a trash-talking know-it-all
who doesn’t really know anything. He’s the
ultimate anti-hero. He’s a guy with no appreciable
skills. He’s not a former Navy SEAL, he’s not a
former CIA or FBI. He’s no special anything. He’s
just a guy from S-Mart, you know?
Ash has survivor’s guilt. You could have a heyday
with his PTSD. He’s a war vet. He doesn’t want
to talk about it, and he’ll lie about that stump on
his hand to impress the ladies. This is a guy
who’s got some issues. He’s emotionally stunted.
But he’s the guy you want in the foxhole next to
you. That’s the funny thing—he’s kind of an idiot,
but man, if I had to go to battle, I’d want to be
next to that guy, because he’ll bring it if he has
to.
And just as they’ll stay true to Ash, they’ll be
staying true to the franchise:
We’re going to give people a little of the old
fashioned splatstick—horror and comedy. The
fans have been really good to us over the years.
This is an opportunity to do something with full
street cred. [Fan reaction to last year’s Evil Dead
remake] was all, “Yeah yeah, that was nice,
fellas, but we still want the real deal.” This is it.
Sam’s back. I’m back. [Executive producer Rob
Tapert’s] back. Love it or hate it, this will be the
real deal.
Details on the plot are still scarce, but Ash won’t
be going solo on this adventure. Campbell
wouldn’t offer up much of a description beyond
saying that they’re “two very good counterparts”,
and the male-bonding relationship with one and a
father-figure relationship with the other will chip
away at Ash’s loner-veteran persona.
Campbell also says that there will definitely be
some serious horror elements, noting “we intend
to give them quite the explosion of viscera. Most
of it directed at me, unfortunately.” That
includes putting Campbell through his slapstick
paces:
I’m going to try to roll back the hands of time a
little bit. It’s probably about doing a lot of
stretching. And my stunt man will probably be
spectacular—this guy’s going to wish his mother
never met his father.
Groovy.
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