Eight years after Bruce Campbell last wielded Ash Williams’ chainsaw in Ash vs. Evil Dead, the actor has finally shut the last door that could have brought his wisecracking Deadite hunter back. In a chat with ScreenRant, Campbell says he is done playing Ash in every capacity, including the long-discussed animated continuation that once offered fans a glimmer of hope.
Ash is done.
Campbell was equally unequivocal about animation, saying he is “not going to do any animated voice work” either. He joked that the franchise could find a soundalike if Ash were ever needed again. That is a notable reversal from his previous position: Campbell retired from physically playing Ash after Starz canceled Ash vs. Evil Dead in 2018, but repeatedly kept the door ajar for animation because, as he once quipped, his voice had not aged as much as he had (via AV Club). The boomstick may finally be on the wall, but Campbell has not entirely severed his connection with the franchise that made him a horror icon.
Bruce Campbell Once Had Plans for Animated Ash
For years, animation looked like Ash’s escape hatch. In 2022, Campbell said an animated continuation of the television series was being considered and enthusiastically declared that he would voice Ash “all day long.” By 2023, he said the project was being actively pursued, with Sam Raimi and his brother working on its world. (Inverse). His position gradually hardened. Earlier this year, Campbell explained that he was entering his “golden years” and considered himself too old for the physical demands of Evil Dead. More importantly, he argued that the franchise had successfully broken three old dependencies: the cabin, Raimi as director, and Ash himself (via Evil Dead Archives).
That evolution makes the new declaration more consequential than his 2018 retirement. Back then, Campbell was finished with live-action Ash. Now he is finished with Ash, full stop. There is one wrinkle worth keeping straight: Campbell may be finished with Ash, but he has not completely severed his behind-the-scenes connection to Evil Dead. He received an executive producer credit on 2026’s Evil Dead Burn, just as he did on Evil Dead Rise, although his involvement with the newer films has become less hands-on (via Rotten Tomatoes).
Evil Dead No Longer Needs Ash to Survive
The franchise has already spent more than a decade proving that the Necronomicon can wreak havoc without its most famous punching bag. Fede Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead shifted attention to Mia Allen, while Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise moved the carnage into a Los Angeles apartment building. The latter earned an 85% Tomatometer score, demonstrating that critics were perfectly willing to embrace an Ash-less chapter (via Rotten Tomatoes).
That experiment continued with Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn, released July 10, 2026. The standalone story follows Alice, a grieving woman whose visit to her late husband’s family home goes spectacularly south when her relatives begin turning into Deadites (per Rotten Tomatoes). Burn currently holds 71% from critics and 74% from verified audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, with its ferocious gore receiving particular notice. It has also grossed roughly $71.4 million worldwide, combining about $32.2 million domestically with $39.3 million internationally.
Campbell does have one complaint about the franchise’s new blood-soaked direction: he wants the laughs back. Discussing the recent movies, he argued that they have become largely humorless and that horror can be frightening without becoming relentlessly grim (via Bloody Disgusting). That may be Ash Williams’ lasting fingerprint on Evil Dead: not another cameo or animated adventure, but the mischievous streak Campbell thinks its next generation should rediscover.
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