Bruce Campbell Clarifies He's "Tapped Out" Of The 'Evil Dead' Franchise

With a new trilogy playing out in the Evil Dead franchise, Bruce Campbell is eliminating any confusion about his future as Ash.

On Thursday, the actor famous for originating the role of Ash in Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror cult classic reiterated that he’s retired from playing the role, following his starring three-season run in Starz’s Ash vs Evil Dead (2015-’18).

“Apologies if this news seems new. It’s hard to communicate everything with everyone,” wrote Campbell on X. “I tapped out after [Ash vs Evil Dead]. Mostly, the reasons were ability and interest, in equal measure. I didn’t want Ash to be compromised by declining skills and as a borderline Geezer, my interests have diverged. I’ll always love Evil Dead to death – literally.”

In June, Campbell noted that he was offered a cameo in Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise (2023), explaining that the character is “not part of any big overriding story” going forward.

Following Ash vs Evil Dead, 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.”

Apologies if this news seems new. It’s hard to communicate everything with everyone. I tapped out after AVED. Mostly, the reasons were ability and interest, in equal measure. I didn’t want Ash to be compromised by declining skills and as a borderline Geezer, my interests have… https://t.co/Bfcqh2v8xu pic.twitter.com/SBDC2Awcu8

Campbell, who revealed a cancer diagnosis in March, continued, “Thankfully, Evil Dead Rise made the most [$147M] of any money we’ve made from any Evil Dead, so 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, the horror continued this summer with Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn. Next, Francis Galluppi’s Evil Dead Wrath will premiere April 7, 2028.

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And that’s totally fine! Bruce will always be The Evil Dead for me, Ash is the essence of the franchise.
But it’s best to leave him with nothing but good memories, and I always enjoy seeing Campbell in other roles too.
Roger Moore waited too long to retire from Bond, and it was a little sad to see at the end, we don’t want that for Bruce/Ash.
Best wishes on his health, look forward to seeing what he does next.
Love ya Bruce!

Focus on kicking Cancer’s ass. Love you Bruce.