Bruce Campbell Says He Will No Longer Play Evil Dead’s Ash Williams

Bruce Campbell has put Evil Dead’s Ash Williams to bed, ruling out a future with the character.

In a new interview with Screen Rant, Bruce Campbell confirmed that “Ash is done” and that he won’t be reprising the role again, even for voiceovers in animated projects. He noted that creatives will have to get a soundalike or find some other workaround. It’s a disappointing thing to hear, but probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that Ash hasn’t been at the center of the franchise in a while.

He told Screen Rant that he was largely uninvolved with Evil Dead Burn, the most recent film in the series, because he was more focused on directing his own movie, Ernie and Emma. It also sounds like he won’t be very involved in Evil Dead Wrath, on which he will have an executive producer credit.

“It really boils down to that: spending time in another country working on somebody else’s movie, or spending time in your hometown working on your own movie? It wasn’t a hard choice, you know what I mean? When I didn’t have to actually work on the Evil Dead movies, they’re still optional, and because they’re optional, I just opted out. I just said, ‘I’m making a movie. I got to go make this movie, and I got to make this movie for as many years as it takes, because after this run at Alamo Drafthouse, I’m going to theoretically jump to another tour.'”

Campbell’s been associated with Evil Dead since its inception in 1981 with The Evil Dead. He’s a close friend and collaborator with director Sam Raimi, leading to Campbell being featured in Raimi’s Spider-Man films and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Although Ash’s role has shrunk over time due to a focus on other characters and stories in the Evil Dead universe, some hoped Ash would continue to appear in new adventures. Unfortunately, it seems like Campbell is ready to move on in favor of other creative ventures.

Campbell also revealed earlier this year that he was diagnosed with a “treatable” but not “curable” cancer. It’s possible that has led to him wanting to do other things and make the most of his time.