With ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead‘ in pre-production we’re happy to report that Bruce Campbell is not being shy about the details! He seems to be as excited to work on the project as the fans are that it is happening and keeps dishing out more info.
In an interview with Dread Central, Campbell mentioned that the series had “a wonderful room of talented writers” which shouldn’t be surprising. We’ve got long time writers of the ‘Evil Dead’ aboard in the likes of Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Craig DiGregorio, and Tom Spezialy. They really pulled out all of the stops when it comes to people who know this franchise and are all as passionate about it as the fans are.
Now I do have to warn you that there are some spoilers of what to expect below. If you want to check out the series and be completely surprised you’ll probably want to turn back now.
The ten episode first season will have principal photography shot in New Zealand beginning in April. When talking about his character Campbell says that, “I’m bringing everything to the table. It’s a feisty version of Ash, who’s grizzled and just wants to be left alone.”
We’re reintroduced to Ash now working at Ted’s Superclub during the day and chasing after women at night. He has lived in a variety of trailer parks in the Midwest and the Deadite invasion has never quite left him. This should give you an idea on just the kind of low that you would expect Ash to be in at this stage of his life.
When the 2013 ‘Evil Dead‘ film didn’t include Ash, Campbell says that “People would just not let it go. They may have liked the film, but they wanted Ash [to be in it].” (I know that I for one did.)
When talking about his sidekicks in the film he says that, “I was there during the casting process, and they’re very talented. Aside from the ensemble [aspect], they each needed to be able to hold their own because they’ll have their own series of missions. It’s an epic tale. How could you not [plan for that]? I’m a strong proponent of the ‘big picture’ plan, and we are planning for five seasons.”
Five seasons? Hail to the king baby! I am all for an extended series run of Ash and company fighting off Deadites. Lets just hope that they have the ratings to sustain their plan. Of course a solid plot is key to ratings so they need a solid plan. This is my only cringe worthy moment of what he has to say about it as Bruce mentions that, “We are competitive with ‘The Walking Dead,’ like, ‘We’ll show those fuckers!’ [Our] Deadites are very clever. They not stupid shufflers. They can mimic people; they can drive cars. They’re a fun threat. They [‘The Walking Dead’] are right up there [though] with being responsible for the current resurgence [of horror].”
Comparing the series with ‘The Walking Dead’ when it has an entirely different tone sounds painful. Fans of the genre do have to thank Kirkman’s creation for spurring an increase of horror on television but these will be at such a different level that the comparison really wasn’t needed.
Campbell did say though that the studio is pretty much giving them the creative control that they want on the series. ““It’s the last laugh. We’ve come full circle. The first Evil Dead film allowed for the most artistic freedom on anything I’ve worked on. Starz is giving us the same opportunity with this series.” Now that is something I can get behind. When studios decide to change around properties I feel that they tend to cut out the soul of the show. This isn’t always the case but it happens more often than not.
You can read the entire interview over at Dread Central.
