Following the cancellation of Ash Vs. Evil Dead in 2018, star Bruce Campbell tweeted that he was retiring his most famous role.
Ash Williams was the main character of the original Evil Dead trilogy and was brought back for three seasons of the television show in 2015. The series was cancelled due to declining ratings though and two years after the fact, co-star Ray Santiago has said that he believes it would have continued had it been on a streaming platform rather than the Starz network.
He might be right, too, as there is precedent for shows beginning on one network and then garnering significantly more viewership once they move to Netflix. For instance, You started on Lifetime before moving to the streaming giant and now it’s a hit. So, there may be a way for Ash Vs. Evil Dead to return for a fourth season and Santiago and co-star Dana DeLorenzo believe they can coax Campbell out of retirement if that were to happen.
“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,” said DeLorenzo. “I think enough time has passed by.”
Santiago, meanwhile, thinks Campbell loves the character too much to give him up, saying:
“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.”
Ever since Ash vs. Evil Dead became available on Netflix, it’s seen an uptick in interest. The service is a great place for horror TV and movies to thrive, after all. In addition, another thing going for it is that it’s a known IP and has a built-in audience. Original director Sam Raimi is working on another film adaptation of Evil Dead, too, so there’s certainly more content in this universe to come.
With two more Halloween movies on the way and the in-development Scream 5, there’s always going to be a home for horror, as it’s generally cheap to make and has a loyal fanbase. As such, it’s probably only a matter of time until we see both Ash Vs. Evil Dead and Campbell back on our screens again.