Ash is back, baby! And so are those pesky Evil Dead. The beloved horror franchise is getting the series treatment at Starz and to celebrate, the cast and crew hit the stage at Comic-Con this evening to debut the trailer, chat about the series adaptation, and hail to the king, baby.

Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Lucy Lawless, Showrunner Craig DeGregario, and Ash himself, Mr. Buce Campbell delighted a packed house of Evil Dead fans with a great panel packed with info about the plot of the series, where Ash is at in his life, effects, soundtrack - plus lots and lots of snarky banter. Check out the full recap below.

Panel Highlights

• Bruce opened the panel by talking about how the series is the result of the fans’ unwavering devotion to the franchise and refusal to give up on the possibility of future installments. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your incessant hounding.”
• Ash Vs Evil dead has an official premiere date! October 31 - Halloween, bitches. Come get some!
• They opted for the series format because they wanted to spend more time with Ash than they could in the duration of the film. After Army of Darkness, all anybody wanted to see was Ash and the series format gives abundant time to let him do his thing and “explore his pathology”.
• The series is a direct continuation of the Evil Dead story, comparable to a five hour movie. “It’s the craziest five hour movie,” said Bruce.
• Starz new the fans wanted to see classic Evil Dead and they didn’t want to change the tone. They wanted to deliver the gore and laughs of the Evil Dead films.

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  Bruce says Starz is the perfect place for the series because they’re unrestricted, like the first films, which were not-rated, and that’s the perfect environment for Evil Dead to flourish.
• Did Bruce want Spartacus style Orgies? “Every chance he gets,” quipped Lawless, to which Campbell responded, “The answer is yes, just not during filming.”
• The series picks up 30 years after we last saw Ash. It picks up present day, when Ash has spent the last 30 years being a lovable asshole - or as Bruce says a “rascal”. Basically he spent his time womanizing, drinking, and living in a trailer park.
• He releases evil again in a very “Ash-like fashion”. The first season tracks him trying to put it away, and trying to make relationships with the people who tag along with him after not having any relationships for 30 years.
• How is it getting back into character? “The short answer is, it’s harder. Lots of stretching.”
• “Ash in his prime was the wrong guy to save the world, now he’s 30 years older. I’m really worried for the world,” joked Campbell. He’s one of the most flawed heroes you can have in a show or movie.
• After Sam ribbed Bruce a little for his own age, Campbell returned in kind saying, “Sam loves to hurt me in these shows and movies and that hasn’t changed. Thankfully he’s aged too, so when he hits me with a stick he doesn’t have quite the force he used to.”

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  Ash has dentures.
• Bruce singled out getting to work with Sam again on a regular basis as the real joy of coming back to the series.
• Sam joked that in the last 30 years Bruce has finally picked up some acting skills. “It was really good to see him play this old character, but now with some skill as an actor.”
• Bruce said that fans of the franchise will feel right at home with the series. “This will be like putting on this old comfortable slipper, ‘Oh, this feels good’.”
• They said certain trademark elements are mandatory - the boomstick, the chainsaw hand.
• Ash is still a total lothario, and Bruce is a real ladies man himself. Flirting relentlessly with the pretty ladies in the crowd.
• After Raimi picked on Bruce a little for his lacking Ash’s ladies-man skills, Bruce turned to the audience and asked, “"Are there any ladies in the audience who will have sex with me tonight?” An abundance of female cheers erupted.
• Ruby Knobi as in professor Knobi? She’s got a chip on her shoulder and she’s gunning for Ash because she believes he’s the source of the plague, and she’s right. She’s going to obliterate him.
• They didn’t think they could capitalize on the trademark camera play on a weekly basis. Instead, they’re focusing on the character of Ash.

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  Tonally, it borrows the horror of the first Evil Dead and the character of the second and third films. “nightmarish mishmash of tones” They’re shooting for a scary show. Scary and funny.
• How much does this mean personally, it’s where they started and it’s where they are now?
• Sam directed the first episode and if continues to a second season he looks forward to directing more.
• Bruce said, “If you support this show, it will get made. Nothing would please us more than to be able to bring this to you for years. This is not a fluff thing, this sis not a hobby, they’re all taking it seriously.”
• Is there hope to springboard from this into another movie? “Of course!” Bruce. After working with Fede Alvarez on the Evil Dead remake (which they love), they want to do a team up of his heroine and their hero.
• Bruce hosts an impromptu Ash cosplay contest. He is clearly in favor of the hot chick cross playing.

Audience Q&A

• They use stop motion but not as much as Army of Darkness. They tried to stick to a practical effects approach, but there is digital touch up. They have a pressurized beer keg and “You know it’s going to bad when they bring the keg out,” said Bruce.
• A lady asks Bruce if he could say “This is my broomstick”. “Ma’m you know I could say that…If I was your little monkey.”
• They’re planning on putting Ted Raimi in it, but he’s not in the first season. “Someone’s got to swallow them souls” - Lawless.

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  Sam says the first movie was not scary until Joe LeDuca did a score for it. They’ve continued to work with Joe on movies and TV over the decades and he’ll be back for this too. The score will be recording in a couple days.
• What project would Bruce most like to revive? Audience shout Bubba Ho-Tep big response. It would nice to another one, but they haven’t been able to find a script that they all like.
• Favorite practical effect from the new series.  Bruce says the blood keg. So much blood came out of the keg he choked. “I choked for you on blood.” Lucy likes something called the puss rig.
• Is there a chance for another movie after this? Absolutely. They are all huge fans of Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead remake and want to make a film uniting the badass heroine played by Jane Levy with Ash.
• Will we see the mechanical hand from Army of Darkness? “It would be stilly not to,” says Bruce “It’s kind of a secret, but you won’t see that hand says Sam.

Footage

The trailer is a total knockout. It’s everything I wanted to see - packed with blood, hilarity, “fuck yeah” action, and lots cheeky Ash one-liners. It’s perfect and I could never do it justice so you can check it out for yourself here.