Bruce Campbell: No Ash In 'Evil Dead' Remake

There are two iconic faces of The Evil Dead. One is Sam Raimi, whose comic, kinetic filmmaking was a framework in which grotesque horror could exist side by side with Three Stooges-style slapstick. (And so: 'splatstick.') The other iconic face is Bruce Campbell, whose Ash Williams character is the beating heart of The Evil Dead and, to generations of fans, the voice of a certain approach to horror.

The idea of remaking The Evil Dead was wild enough, especially with unproven short film director Fede Alvarez working from a script rewritten by Diablo Cody. Bruce Campbell is said to have a cameo, but who'll play Ash? As it turns out, no one will, says the actor.

Setting the record straight, in response to questions about the actor playing Ash, Bruce Campbell said via Twitter today,

No Ash character currently. [1]

Last statement: ED remake is a re-telling. All bets are off & all involved love the new approach. [2]

That's good news as far as I'm concerned. So the new film will, one imagines,  try to recapture the energy and more serious horror of the original Evil Dead, though a new set of characters. Presumably the Necronomicon is involved, thus making it an Evil Dead movie, and so we'll have a new collection of deadites opposing and killing most of the characters. Could one of those characters possibly emerge as a sort of new Ash? Seems virtually impossible to create an icon in per-meditated manner, as so many other sequels and remakes have proven.