Bruce Campbell Says He is Retiring From Playing Ash Williams

A few months ago Bruce Campbell stated that if “Ash Vs Evil Dead” were to be cancelled, it’d mark the end of Ash Williams.  Well, sadly, we learned last week that “Ash vs Evil Dead” has indeed been cancelled.  So is this truly the end for Ash Williams?  “Evil Dead” fans across the world have been campaigning for “Ash Vs Evil Dead” to be saved by the likes of Amazon or Netflix, but it looks like their efforts are for naught.  The King himself has issued a decree and it looks like he is sticking to his guns about retiring Ash.

Bruce Campbell, on his Facebook page, made an announcement regarding his future role in the “Evil Dead” franchise.  Here’s what he had to say:

Good people, Evil Dead fans everywhere, I bid you a heartfelt farewell playing Ash – the character I took acting lessons with for 39 years.

I am hereby retiring from that portrayal. It’s time. I followed Ash from his formative years thru his mid-life crisis and decline. What a thrill! What a privilege!

We had a great resurgence with the help of Starz (kudos not jeers, folks). They made it possible for 15 more hours of Evil Dead-ness in your life – the equivalent of 10 more features!

Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.

Thanks for watching.

Love,

Bruce

So, there you have it.  Bruce Campbell will no longer return to the “Evil Dead” franchise.  You would like to think if Sam Raimi or someone else came up with a remarkable idea and had a greenlight for a new project, they might be able to convince Bruce to come back . . . but it doesn’t sound likely.  The interesting take away from this post is that while Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of Ash is coming to an end, he’s leaving the door open for Ash to live on in other ways whether it be in spirit or in name.  In the 2013 “Evil Dead” film we got to see Mia take on the persona of Ash and in the current season of “Ash Vs Evil Dead” Ash has a daughter who could possibly pick up the mantle.  So there’s always a possibility that the franchise could live on with different people, but I’d be lying if I said it’d be hard to adjust to a new world without Ash Williams.