Evil Dead’s Future Gets Confident Update From Bruce Campbell

Following the success of the most recent installment, Bruce Campbell has a very confident update for the Evil Dead franchise’s future. Campbell was the face of Sam Raimi’s horror franchise for three movies and the well-received TV show sequel, Ash vs. Evil Dead, starring as the Deadite-fighting protagonist Ash Williams before retiring the live-action version of the character. Outside of the Campbell-led installments, the franchise has seen success with 2013’s soft rebootquel Evil Dead and 2023’s standalone movie, Evil Dead Rise, which became the highest-grossing one yet.

During a recent interview with ComicBook.com for his upcoming show Discontinued, Campbell opened up about Evil Dead‘s future. The franchise veteran offered a promising update on how it will continue following Rise‘s success, confirming that he and Raimi have “a couple more in the pipeline” and teasing what he wants from the next installment. See what Campbell shared below:

We let the filmmakers decide. Sam puts it on their plate. Fede Álvarez wanted to do a straight version, because the original Evil Dead is sort of melodramatic. [Evil Dead Rise director] Lee Cronin, his background is drama. I don’t think he wanted any winking at the camera. And we don’t ever try to put these guys beyond their comfort zone. I would like to see another Evil Dead 2-type movie. We’ve got a couple more in the pipeline, and it would be nice to jolly it up a little bit, but we try to respect the filmmakers. If they’re better at doing a straight horror, that’s okay.

There Are Multiple Options For Evil Dead’s Future

While the 2013 rebootquel seemed prime to revitalize the franchise for the modern scene, given there were plans for a sequel to it and Army of Darkness, the success of Evil Dead Rise seems to have finally sparked the proper interest in continuing the property in a more consistent manner. Both prior to and after the 2023 movie’s release, writer/director Lee Cronin confirmed multiple ideas for a potential Rise follow-up, teasing everything from a direct follow-up to the forest-set possession bookend, as well as a John Wick-style story centering on one Priest versus Deadites. Cronin also teased to Screen Rant that while a sequel to his movie is “up to the film gods“, one lore retcon he made will help shape this future:

Even looking away from Rise, there are a number of potential paths for the Evil Dead franchise to continue. Campbell has frequently suggested that an animated revival of Ash vs. Evil Dead is in development by Raimi and producer Rob Tapert, for which he will reprise his titular role and seemingly pick up from the post-apocalyptic cliffhanger of the show. Additionally, despite having indicated he had retired from the live-action side of Ash portrayals, the star did indicate he would consider such a return should Raimi be back in the director’s chair for the project.

The other potential option for Evil Dead‘s future is a follow-up to the 2013 Fede Álvarez movie. In addition to plans for a direct sequel to it, there were once talks for Jane Levy’s Mia to crossover with Campbell’s Ash Williams, and though the franchise has seemingly moved on from this storyline, fans of the horror series have continued to hold out hope for such a team-up between Deadite survivors. With Lily Sullivan’s Beth now on that same roster of those to survive the Book of the Dead’s terror, the door may again be open for multiple stories within the universe to converge for a bloody fight against evil.

Source: ComicBook.com