Ash Vs Evil Dead burst onto our screens almost ten years ago and our lives quite simply haven’t been the same since. As genre revivals go, the three seasons of The Evil Dead sequel are some of the best, introducing a whole new generation to the wild world of the Deadites and the chainsaw-wielding Ash Williams – with Bruce Campbell making a triumphant return to the role.
Hitting out screens more than 20 years since Ash and his Boomstick took on a hoard of thousand-year-old of skeletons in Army of Darkness, Ash Vs Evil Dead acted as a sequel to the original Evil Dead trilogy and sees Ash forced to dig up his head from under the sand to face a brand new Deadite plague that could destroy the world.
Despite being beloved by both avid Evil Dead fans and new horror audiences alike, in 2018 viewers were given the devastating news that Ash Vs Evil Dead had been canceled – leaving us on that cliffhanger ending. Petitions soon followed along with an outcry from the cast, with hopes another network would give our demon-fighting heroes a new home.
All went quiet on that front, but with the success of Evil Dead Rise in 2023 and the promise of new films in the franchise from Campbell and original creator Sam Raimi, many have wondered if Ash Vs Evil Dead will finally get that fourth season we so desperately want. Here’s everything we know so far about the future of the Evil Dead TV series.
The creation of Ash Vs Evil Dead
Ash Vs Evil Dead is the Frankenstein’s Monster of the Evil Dead franchise, after it originally began as the amalgamation of two feature-length film ideas. Campbell initially revealed the project at San Diego Comic Con in 2014, before the first series came to Starz just a year later.
Campbell reprised the role of Ash for the show with his new sidekicks, co-workers Pablo Bolivar (Ray Santiago) and Kelly Maxwell (Dana DeLorenzo). It was a family affair for the Raimis, with brothers Sam and Ivan producing the show alongside Tom Spezialy, and Ted Raimi starring as Chet Kaminski, a childhood friend of Ash.
Raimi spoke about the decision to release the series, saying that a change in what TV would allow on-air helped the move. He said (per Den Of Geek): “So making an Evil Dead movie, we didn’t really have a great format for it anymore. But TV’s changed so much that [while] they previously wouldn’t show something like this, now they want something that draws an audience—I don’t really know the business, but what I’ve been told is they want outrageous fare to draw unique viewership. Something audiences can’t get on normal TV. So, it just so happens that TV’s changed to the point that something like Evil Dead might be appropriate for it.”
Series one is set approximately 30 years after the first three Evil Dead films, though it seemed out of place due to licensing rights as it could not mention the events of Army of Darkness. This was rectified in 2016; seasons two and three connected the dots in the timeline, helping it serve as a sequel to the trilogy. Across 30 episodes, the series expanded not just the lore of the Deadites, but also our understanding of Ash as a character and how the original events of the films shaped him beyond the six hours of story we already had.
There are even more fantastic one-liners (who can forget “I’m going to be like a ninja losing their virginity, quick and discreet?”) as well as some of the most creative deaths of the franchise – from a bloody harp-related incident to death by Delta and that cringe-inducing beartrap moment.
The comedic highs are high – and not just during a drugged-up Book of the Dead reading – but as it balances the sheer lunacy of the franchise and pushes it to new lengths while also sharing the limelight with dizzyingly gross gore and explosive action sequences. Ash Vs Evil Dead really was a crowning moment, but the Boomstick wouldn’t protect it forever
Will there be a season 4 of Ash Vs Evil Dead?
Sadly, there won’t be a fourth season of Ash Vs Evil Dead after Starz canceled the show in 2018. Despite plenty of groovy, gory moments across three series, a ratings drop towards the end of the third season meant the Deadites got the axe for good despite its cliffhanger ending.
Speaking to Collider at the time, Campbell opened up on how people’s unfamiliarity with Starz at the time led to a drop in viewership and ultimately sealed the show’s fate: “We knew the ratings were bad after the end of the second season. We just knew it. No one knew what Starz was. I would say ‘Hey, we’re making that as a TV show,’ people go ‘Yeah, where can I see it?’ ‘Starz.’ And there will be a pause, and a pause, and then they would go ‘What’s Starz?’ When it dropped on Netflix, people went, ‘Hey, Cool. Cool. Netflix is finally doing The Evil Dead show.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it was three years too late.'”
The cast and fans alike pushed back against the cancellation, with #BringBackBoomstick trending across social media with viewers hoping that another network or Netflix, where you can stream the existing series, could take over the franchise and wrap up things for the gang once and for all. However, there’s been no positive news on the return of Ash Vs Evil Dead since then, meaning chances of a revival seem slim.
Creators Raimi and Campbell have given some insight into what fans could have expected from season 4 – and it sounds wild. The duo shared that the fourth season would have skipped forward into the future with Ash exploring a post-apocalyptic world – with Kelly and Pablo at his side following his resurrection.
Who’s laughing now? The future of The Evil Dead
It’s not quite the end of Ash Vs. Evil Dead it would seem, with Campbell teasing that an animated Evil Dead series is in production. Chatting with Collider at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022, the actor revealed a cartoon sequel to the beloved series is underway, and it picks up right where we left off: “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. So I’ll still do the video game. And we’re already talking about an animated [series].”
The cancellation of Ash Vs Evil Dead left many despairing that they would never see Campbell reprise his iconic role. This horrifying thought seemed to become reality when the actor announced his retirement from the role following the show’s cancellation. And he’s stayed true to his word, with no hint of Ash in Evil Dead Rise despite a voice cameo from Campbell.
However, DeLorenzo believes the actor would ride out for one last time should season four happen, telling Comic Book: “I honestly feel like never say never. There have been shows where they get cancelled but then they’re picked up by another network. I know Bruce has said he is in retirement, but I feel like Ray and I could convince him.” Santiago added: “He just needs a good one or two years of just like chilling in the woods and not having the Boomstick in his hands and then he starts to crave it and it’ll come back.”
With this reasoning, it seems possible that we could see Campbell return to the film franchise when he gets the itch to slaughter unruly demons, and the actor has said there’s one condition under which he would make another Evil Dead film. Speaking at the SXSW premiere of Evil Dead Rise, Campbell revealed: “If Sam says, ‘I, Sam Raimi, will direct another Evil Dead movie,’ then I, Bruce Campbell, will consider being in it. I don’t want to be Ash, tended to by other people.” So there we have it.
He continued: “Sam’s the meanest director I’ve ever worked with, and Ash needs a little bit of that to shine. And I think Sam’s the only director now who I won’t punch in the face making an Evil Dead movie! I’m just saying, I’ve called Rob (Tapert) and Sam out, I’m not the coward that they think I am; I just want the right circumstances. Because Sam, even though he’s done studio movies, he’s still a good director! So, I want Sam! I’ll do it for Sam.”
Campbell previously let slip to Comic Book that there are more films in the pipeline – so all hope is not lost when it comes to seeing Ash and his Boomstick again. Further details have been kept under wraps, but we do know Campbell’s one condition has been broken in the next film, with Infested director Sébastien Vaniček set to direct. Plus the recent announcement of a second Evil Dead movie in the works with The Last Stop In Yuma County director Francis Galluppi at the helm.
Many have speculated that the ending of Evil Dead Rise sets up the potential for a sequel. Director Lee Cronin has shed more light on this, teasing his possible return to the franchise. He said (per Screen Rant): “Yeah, I think the potential is absolutely there for that to take place. I think we are right now enjoying the success of this movie. I think it’s important that you don’t just absolutely try and rinse something out immediately. It’s something that’s always been under discussion, because there’s fun to that, as we were talking and developing the movie, Rob Tapert, who would have been on set when I was shooting, we’d often talk about some different ideas in terms of what can actually take place.”
Evil Dead Rise expands the universe of Evil Dead alongside Ash Vs Evil Dead, taking us from the cabin in the woods and bringing the Deadites into the wider world. While we can only hope (for now) for a return of the beloved Ash Vs Evil Dead, it’s certain we haven’t seen the last of Evil Dead with plenty of projects on the go to keep the franchise alive and kicking in all its gory, groovy glory.
