Fans of the Evil Dead franchise were certainly disappointed when Ash vs. Evil Dead was canceled after only running for three seasons. Now, years later, we finally have an explanation for what happened to the horror series. During an interview with Collider, Bruce Campbell, one of the biggest stars in the franchise, explained why the show couldn’t move forward, stating that it had to do with the fact that audiences weren’t very familiar with the platform it was released on. Here’s what Campbell had to say regarding the show’s cancelation:
"We knew the ratings were bad after the end of the second season. We just knew it. No one knew what Starz was. I would say 'Hey, we're making people that as a TV show,' people go 'Yeah, where can I see it?' 'Starz.' And there will be a pause, and a pause, and then they would go 'What's Starz?' When it dropped on Netflix, people went, 'Hey, Cool. Cool. Netflix is finally doing The Evil Dead show.' I'm like, 'Oh my God, it was three, three years too late.'"
Ash vs. Evil Dead followed Campbell’s character, Ash Williams, thirty years after he was last seen during the events of Army of Darkness. He clearly lived through a lot, and that was visible ever since he first appeared on the television series, as the trauma from what he lived brought his personality down. This time around, Ash has found new friends, with Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) joining the fight against the titular Evil Dead. When it comes to getting rid of an ancient, unspeakable evil headed your way, you can always count on Ash Williams to save the day.
Besides the fact that not a lot of people were aware of what Starz was, Campbell gave a very honest perspective regarding the streaming market as a reason for the show’s cancelation. “It's commerce, it's business," he said. "You know, these companies were all expanding. AMC led the way, we're not just going to show other people's movies, we're going to make our own original stuff. So everyone is making their own original stuff." Ash vs. Evil Dead had the misfortune of being one of Starz's earliest attempts at original content, as Campbell explains, "Starz used to just show other people's movies. So the new sort of paradigm is you own it. It's gonna cost you a lot of money, but now you own these properties. So Starz tried to do the same thing. But no one knew who they were.”
The Future of Evil Dead
Currently, the Evil Dead franchise is going through a resurgence period, due to the success of the recently released Evil Dead Rise. Starring Lily Sullivan, the movie managed to earn $146 million at the worldwide box office. Given how that amount is considerably larger than its production budget, it would be possible for Warner Bros. to continue the franchise’s legacy, although no official plans have been announced yet. As Campbell explained, there is certainly room for Ash vs. Evil Dead to continue in animated form to pick up on that incredible Season 3 cliffhanger. For now, it remains to be seen where this catastrophic antagonistic force will show up again, and until then, it’s better to sleep with the lights on.
You can check out our full interview with Bruce Campbell below: