Beloved B-movie actor/director Bruce Campbell, best known to horror fans everywhere as Ash Williams, has officially announced his retirement from the role that made him an icon. This comes in the wake of the cancellation of the Starz series Ash Vs. Evil Dead after three seasons.

Campbell began acting as a teenager, making movies with his friends with an old Super 8 camera. One of these friends was Sam Raimi, who Campbell would continue to work with for the rest of their careers. They first found success with the original Evil Dead film, which spawned two sequels, a video game, multiple comic series and the recent television show. Campbell later did cameo roles in all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Campbell is fondly remembered for many roles, including the master thief Autolycus on Xena: Warrior Princess, Elvis Presley in the movie Bubba Ho-Tep, and the title role in the steampunk Western The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

The announcement signals the end of a era, but it was sadly foreshadowed by earlier reports. Campbell had said that he thought that his time as Ash would be over if Ash Vs. Evil Dead was canceled. This statement conflicted with other reports which suggested that we might see a fourth Evil Dead movie starring Campbell in the event that Ash Vs. Evil Dead season 3 proved to be the series’ last. Alas, it seems that the earlier statement proved to be the truth and there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth among Deadites everywhere.

Thankfully, while Ash Williams may have been retired, Campbell is not showing signs of quitting acting or directing anytime soon. Campbell is slated to play a regular supporting role in the upcoming AMC series Lodge 49. While a premiere date for the first episode has not yet been announced, it is expected to debut sometime in 2018. Apart from that, it seems unlikely that Campbell will stay idle for long given his long record of prolific performances. Hail to the King, Baby!

That sucks, I also wasn't aware the show got cancelled