Bruce Campbell Explains ‘Evil Dead’ Has “Moved Away” From Ash: “Not Part Of Any Big Overriding Story Or Scheme”

After 45 years, Bruce Campbell is officially hanging up his chainsaw hand, recently confirming that he’s moved on from the Evil Dead franchise.

Noting that he was offered a cameo in Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise (2023), the actor who first played Ash in the original 1981 Sam Raimi movie, explained that the character is “not part of any big overriding story” going forward.

“No, no. I think I think basically from Evil Dead Rise on, Ash is … you know, they wanted some little gag of Ash at the end of the movie. We did that as a lark,” he told Detroit Free Press. “He’s not part of any big overriding story or scheme.”

Following his Starz spin-off series Ash vs Evil Dead (2015-’18), Campbell said the franchise has “done three things: We moved away from the cabin, we’ve moved away from Sam Raimi, we’ve moved away from Ash and Bruce Campbell.”

Campbell continued, “Thankfully, Evil Dead Rise made the most of any money we’ve made from any Evil Deadso far, and it validated the fact that we can get away from those main elements. You’ve got to find a new audience, because the original Evil Dead fans, you get some of them, you’re not going to get all of them, because they like those original elements. They like me and Sam and Ash and all that sort of crap.”

Starring in Raimi’s original trilogy, which included The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1993), Campbell briefly reprised his role as Ash for a post-credits cameo in Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot.

With Evil Dead Rise steering the franchise in a new darker direction, to the tune of $147M globally, the horror is set to continue with Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burnpremiering July 10 in US theaters. Next, Francis Galluppi’s Evil Dead Wrath will premiere April 7, 2028.