Bruce Campbell Sadly Confirms What We've Suspected All Along About Ash

When "The Evil Dead" first arrived in theaters back in 1981, audiences were introduced to Sam Raimi's hapless hero, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell). Since then, the Deadite fighting-everyman has become an icon in the horror genre, mainly because of his hilarious approach to fighting the undead. Although it also might have something to do with 1987's "Evil Dead II," where he grafts a chainsaw to his wrist after chopping his own hand off. Sure, it's slightly whacky, but the "Evil Dead" movies are also horrifying at times, which is why it's become such a massive franchise.

Raimi enlisted Fede Alvarez to remake the first film with 2013's "Evil Dead," a blood-soaked ordeal for Mia (Jane Levy) and her friends, who all head to the cabin in the woods before being preyed upon by disturbing forces of evil. Since then, the franchise has lived on with Campbell's Ash at the forefront of the adventure in the Starz TV series "Ash vs. Evil Dead." It heavily leans into the wackiness of the original movies as well as bringing plenty of scares too. But what's next for the world of the Deadites? Irish director Lee Cronin has been tasked with helming "Evil Dead Rise," which is set to arrive in 2022.

However, Bruce Campbell has sadly confirmed what we've suspected all along about Ash Williams.

When speaking to Collider about his long career playing Ash, Bruce Campbell revealed that he's hanging up the chainsaw and turning his back on the Necronomicon for good. However, the star explained that his exit from the role doesn't mean the end of the series. "I'm done playing Ash," Campbell confirmed. "So that determines a lot of where we go with the franchise without that character, but there are more stories. We're doing it book-focused these days." He explained that the Necronomicon will always find its way to some unsuspecting soul, teasing where "Evil Dead Rise" picks up. "That darn book gets around, and that's how we play it. That book wound up in an urban environment with a single mom, so let's see what happens."

But with Ash's departure from the series, Campbell explained that it actually frees the series to go off in new directions, "It's fun to fiddle with it. There's not gonna be any traditional form of Evil Dead anymore. Ash is gone." He also revealed why he's decided to put Ash to rest, saying that he's getting a little too old to be vanquishing the undead, "I've retired the character because I physically just can't do him anymore, so why bother? Why do I do it? It's time to hang up the chainsaw."

However, Campbell is still keen to explore the franchise, adding, "But we still are filmmakers, we're still producers, we're still creative-type dudes, so we were like, 'How do we keep this going otherwise?'" He explained that Sam Raimi is still creatively behind the wheel, but he picks the directors for each new film. "Sam handpicked Fede Alvarez to do the remake a few years ago. He handpicked Lee Cronin for this one."