After decades of begging for the return of Ash in a fourth Evil Dead, fans were offered a glimpse of hope in the closing seconds of the Fede Alvarez-directed Evil Dead back in 2013.
While Bruce Campbell didn’t appear in the actual film, which Alvarez has previously explained is a direct sequel to Sam Raimi‘s The Evil Dead (1981), he does cameo in the final seconds of the end credits. But before this playful “button” was tacked onto the credits, Alvarez had planned to have Ash actually appear in the film’s epilogue, sharing the screen with Mia.
Alvarez had also toyed with the idea of Ash and Mia being related, he tells The Boo Crew. “We did have a lot of intentions of doing that,” he says. “And she still might be related. If she is, she doesn’t know. We had a very complex character past for [Mia]. And David. They were siblings but they had different parents – different fathers. So yes, they might be related.”
One of the many great standout features of The Wretched are the film’s frequent and awesome practical special effects. After growing up with a father who helped create visual effects for Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, it’s really no surprise that The Pierce Brothers would take the art seriously in their own work. This is where hiring makeup and special effects artist Erik Porn comes into play.
Currently, there are two different endings to Fede Alvarez‘s Evil Dead that you can watch, with Mia escaping into the woods alone in the theatrical version and getting picked up by a truck driver in the extended alternate ending that’s included with the “Uncut” version of the film. But there’s another ending that Alvarez and Jane Levy shot – one that we’ve not yet seen.
Speaking with Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast, Alvarez reveals the alternate ending that would have hearkened back to The Evil Dead and Sam Raimi’s iconic “demon-POV” camerawork, leaving Mia’s fate a whole lot more unclear. And there’s still another ending to the film that was scripted but never shot, wherein Mia is definitively killed by the evil force.
Ultimately, it was Sam Raimi who insisted on Mia surviving.
Almost any ’80s or ’90s kid who grew up watching sci-fi, fantasy, or horror fare can associate the name Bruce Campbell with at least one iconic role. From Ash Williams of the Evil Dead franchise to the “King of Thieves,” Autolycus, in the Xena and Hercules television shows that were extremely popular at the time, Campbell left a lasting impression on audiences that persists to this day.
Having appeared as acerbic playboy Sam Axe in 111 episodes — and a spinoff movie — for sunny spy-actioner Burn Notice, and having recently hosted Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Campbell has found a number of iconic roles through a career spanning 40 years.
Now, returning to lend his voice to The Last Kids on Earth, an animated post-apocalyptic Netflix series from Atomic Cartoons, the veteran actor finds himself working with the world’s most recognizable streaming giant. And as a fan, I was delighted that Campbell took a few moments out of his day to discuss his past, present, and future credits with me — as well as his social media presence and his love of the great outdoors.
Speaking to ComingSoon and other oulets about his new Quibi series, 50 States of Fright, Raimi was asked about putting a Doctor Strange reference in Spider-Man 2 and then being attached to helm a Doctor Strange film all these years later.
The Evil Dead series, both in the cinematic and television forms, has a marvelously delirious history. An original film financed on a shoestring budget that plays its horror-centric tone mostly straight but with a few chuckle-inducing moments, a sequel that is, in essence, a remake of the original and was originally supposed to follow the plot of the third film, said third film that goes off in a completely different direction, and later a TV series, 22 years later, that makes no reference to the third installment for legal reasons, therefore technically continuing the story of the first film but unquestionably borrowing the slapstick, overly comedic identity of the third movie. Few popular franchises can claim to have a developmental history has complicated and hard-fought as Evil Dead, although one would struggle to consider that a virtue. All that being said, Army of Darkness, which premiered in 1992 but was only released wide in February of 1993, is arguably the most interesting, unique and important entry.
Just received the Jasco Evil Dead II game. You can read about the whole horrible saga here: https://evildead.fandom.com/wiki/Evil_Dead_2:_The_Official_Board_Game Also, my office is messy I know, you may judge me for not tidying up before uploading but I honestly doubt anyone will even see this,
The first season of 50 States of Fright will explore stories based on urban legends from Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon and Washington taking viewers deeper into the horrors that lurk just beneath the surface of our country.
