Summary

  • A new Evil Dead animated series is in the works, but progress is slow and it may be "years" before it's ready.
  • Bruce Campbell won't reprise his role in the upcoming Evil Dead movies due to physical limitations.
  • Despite delays, the new Evil Dead animated series is still moving forward, possibly launching around 2026.

Despite the first Evil Dead movie being released 23 years ago this month, the franchise is still going strong. In fact, after a couple of years where it seemed to be mostly dormant, it's making a bit of a resurgence. That resurgence includes a new animated series coming sometime in the future.

The animated series would be the latest installment in several Evil Dead projects. The most recent to hit theaters was Evil Dead Rise, though that one didn't involve Bruce Campbell. Campbell did bring his Ash Williams character back for the Ash vs Evil Dead series that ran from 2015 to 2018 and it's that series that can be greatly credited with the resurgence in popularity of the franchise as a whole. It's likely the success of that show, and Evil Dead Rise is why an animated show is on the way. However, fans anxiously awaiting the launch of that series got some bad news from Campbell just a few days ago.

Bruce Campbell Delivers Bad Evil Dead News

Campbell was talking to Comic Book about his new project, a series on the Satanic Panic that has nothing to do with the Evil Dead franchise when the conversation did turn to the animated series. Campbell made it clear that things are moving forward but that they're moving very slowly. He added that a finished product could be "years" away as the series moves "are slow-motion, molasses processes."

In the process, Campbell also mentioned two more Evil Dead movies that are in production as the franchise continues to ramp up and take advantage of special effects that are quite a bit better than they were in 1981 when the first film hit theaters. A 2013 reboot of the original movie earned promising reactions from audiences and critics, though it didn't really spark the kind of comeback that Ash vs Evil Dead did two years later.

Campbell explained that the next move for him since that television series is an animated offering because he simply can't do the physical acting.

During the interview, Campbell explained that the next move for him since that television series is an animated offering because he simply can't do the physical acting. There too much required of playing someone who is fighting Deadites on a weekly basis. However, he loves the Ash Williams character and wants to keep playing it, he just needs to be able to take a break and not get tossed around by fake evil. That's one of the big reasons why Evil Dead Rise and the two movies in the series that are still coming, won't include his character.

The question now is just when the animated Evil Dead series will hit television and what network or streaming service it will land on once it's ready. Of course, those kinds of details could obviously be part of the process that is moving molasses slow. The good news here is that while it was announced earlier this summer, there aren't any plans to leave it in the dust. Though it does sound like 2026 is going to be the earliest the show could officially launch.