Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Evil Dead Rise!
Though the second film without the fan-favorite character at the forefront of the story, writer/director Lee Cronin is teasing that Evil Dead Rise‘s Bruce Campbell cameo could be none other than Ash Williams. The latest installment in the Sam Raimi-created franchise centers on a family living in a cramped Los Angeles apartment whose lives becoming a waking nightmare when one of them becomes possessed by a Deadite. Much like the 2013 film before it, Evil Dead Rise looks to act as a standalone sequel, featuring no explicit ties to the prior films, though there may be a major one.
While speaking with Insider to promote the horror sequel, Lee Cronin opened up about making Evil Dead Rise without Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams leading the charge. After admitting to wanting to tell his own story, even after being told the character was off the table, the writer/director did tease that Campbell’s cameo in the film may still be Ash thanks to the franchise’s occasional time-travel shenanigans. See what Cronin explained below:
There is a Bruce Campbell cameo, and that cameo potentially is actually Ash Williams. Think about how time works for Ash as a character, and that voice that you may hear is captured on something that was recorded 100 years ago. And the fact that his particular line is a warning showcases somebody that knows more than the other people in the room… I know that sounds very cryptic, but it’s supposed to.
The Evil Dead’s Bizarre Timeline Explained
Since the release of 1987’s Evil Dead II, the entire timeline of the franchise has infamously become a jumbled mess. Raimi’s first follow-up acted as both a remake and sequel to his classic original, changing the story from Campbell’s Ash being joined by a group of friends for a cabin trip gone wrong to just he and his girlfriend being terrorized by Deadites. Evil Dead II even ended with Ash being sucked back in time and embraced by Middle Age knights for having killed a Deadite while Army of Darkness changed this to his being taken prisoner.
Fede Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead film has been described in a similar fashion to the 1987 sequel, considered both a reimagining of Raimi’s original while still set in the same universe with the intention of crossing Ash over in a future sequel. While said plans languished, the Ash vs. Evil Dead series sought to rectify some of these timeline concerns, reverting back to the original group of friends having gone to the infamous cabin and confirming Ash’s journey to the past in later seasons.
