The Evil Dead universe is about to get a lot bigger. Or at least a lot more episodic. Low-budget horror mastermind-turned-studio filmmaker Sam Raimi has revealed to the world that he is developing an Evil Dead television series with Bruce Campbell involved in some way. Considering we’ve already experienced a retread of the events from his 1981 classic in the 2013 non-classic remake, dare we hope for the gloriously over-the-top glee of Army of Darkness?
Unfortunately, this amounts to almost all that’s known about the project. Raimi himself made the announcement during a surprise Last of Us panel at Comic-Con earlier today. He confirmed that he and his actor brother Ted Raimi are writing the script for it, and that Bruce Campbell will definitely be a part of it. Now, they don’t come out and say that he’s going to reprise the iconic and positively irreplaceable role of Ash Williams, so let’s not go shooting our boomsticks into the air just yet. But there’s so little fun to be had in envisioning him returning only in an executive producer role.
Raimi and Campbell have been talking about reteaming for their own Evil Dead sequel for ages, with only vague hints that any work was actually being done on any of it. But to hear Raimi say himself that this series is coming to life, especially on the grand stage that is Comic Con, is almost like him giving millions of pinky-swears to everyone who has been desperately waiting for news like this.
There would be obvious joy in seeing an aging Ash taking on demonic threats in some other part of the world and/or planet’s timeline, but they’ll probably expand the scope of the Evil Dead mythology and character base to create something that would last for an entire television season. It’s a perfect time to do it, since horror has become the go-to genre for networks to sway audiences with. Just look at the multi-season runs of Hannibal and The Walking Dead, and even Netflix’s Hemlock Grove. Admittedly, most of these series are more serious than absurd, which would make Evil Dead stand out even more, should it adhere to the sequels’ shifting tone.
Beyond Evil Dead fans, this news is pretty important for fans of Raimi in general, as it will be his first trip back to TV since the double dose of M.A.N.T.I.S. and Spy Game, two mid-1990s series that he created. And it’ll be the first mainstream project he’s written since 2009’s superb Drag Me to Hell. Here’s hoping he’s been kicking around a ton of Evil Dead ideas over the years and can turn them into a fully-realized hook for this series.
And please, please don’t let the Necronomicon be turned into an app.
