New Evil Dead Show Can Take The Franchise To A Level Even Sam Raimi Couldn't Reach After Bruce Campbell Return Reveal

Summary Animation will allow Evil Dead to push the limits of gore and horror in ways live-action never could.

The franchise has always had a cartoonish influence, now it's literally becoming a cartoon with a new animated series.

Bruce Campbell will reprise his role as Ash Williams in the new show, bringing his delightfully over-the-top performance to the animated world.

Bruce Campbell has confirmed that an Evil Dead animated series is in the works, and it has the chance to finally do something that the live-action movies never could. Ever since Evil Dead Rise revitalized the franchise in 2023, the series has had more projects in development than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In February 2024, an Evil Dead movie was announced to be directed by Sébastien Vaniček. In April 2024, a separate Evil Dead movie was announced to be directed by Francis Galluppi.

And now, there’s an Evil Dead animated series in development. Although Campbell officially retired from playing Ash Williams in live-action, the actor has confirmed (via Empire) that he’ll reprise the role in voiceover form in the new series. This series doesn’t have a plot synopsis or a release date or even an official title yet, but it’s an exciting new direction for the franchise. The Evil Dead has always been cartoonish – now, it’s literally becoming a cartoon.

Animation Can Take The Evil Dead's Gonzo Gore To A Whole New Level

There's a limit to what can be achieved in live-action

With his early Evil Dead movies, especially Evil Dead II, Sam Raimi pushed the boundaries of what was possible in live-action on a low budget. He brought a mounted deer head to life and had a hole in the wall spew a tornado of blood at Ash. But there’s a limit to what can be achieved in live-action. The animated Evil Dead series won’t be constrained by these limitations. Whatever gonzo imagery the animators come up with can be realized on-screen. Nothing is impractical and anything is possible.

The Evil Dead Franchise Has Always Been Influenced By Slapstick Cartoons

Now, The Evil Dead will actually become a cartoon

Raimi’s Evil Dead movies were heavily influenced by classic animation. What made those early films so unique and groundbreaking was that they combined a typical gory demonic horror movie with a wacky slapstick cartoon. Some of the violence is so ludicrous, like Ash being chased around a toolshed by a headless reanimated corpse with a chainsaw, that it wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of Looney Tunes or Tom & Jerry. No one else was doing that in the horror genre at the time.

Campbell has always leaned into the cartoonish aspects of the franchise, delivering a performance that’s just as delightfully over-the-top as the blood-soaked horror slapstick, so it’s a great sign that he’ll be back playing Ash in the new show. With corpses dancing in the woods and deadites running wild, the Evil Dead franchise has always essentially been a horror cartoon. Now that it’s moving into the world of animation, it’s literally becoming a cartoon.

Source: Empire