The Evil Dead franchise is once again attempting to live on without Bruce Campbell, but trying to recast the iconic role of Ash would be a fool's errand. As a genre, horror is most often based around the villain or, in some cases, villains. From Dracula to Freddy Krueger to Jigsaw, the villain is usually the straw that stirs a horror franchise's drink. There are, however, some rare exceptions to that rule, including Ellen Ripley in Alien, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and of course, Ash Williams.

Ash goes on quite the journey over the course of the Evil Dead franchise, starting life as far from a hero as one could possibly be, before barely making it out of director Sam Raimi's original movie alive. Ash then battled with ancient Kandarian demons to shape him into a man of action that uses both a shotgun and a chainsaw to carve up evil. Army of Darkness evolved Ash into a cocky loudmouth a bit too confident in his own skills, but still a worthy champion of good.

While the Evil Dead franchise will continue on without Bruce Campbell, it also looks destined to continue on without Ash in perpetuity as well. Many major horror roles have been recast over the years, some successfully, but it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing Ash.


There was perhaps a small window in which the Evil Dead franchise could've successfully recast Ash. That window was sometime in the early 2010s when it had been nearly 20 years since Campbell had played the role. Even then, when producer Raimi and director Fede Alvarez set out to put together 2013's Evil Dead remake, they clearly thought it would be better not to try, and excluded the Ash character. Once Campbell came back to the Ash role for three years of Ash vs. Evil Dead though, the true nail was put in the coffin of any attempt to recast Ash. Campbell was still excellent as Ash in his 50s, and further cemented the role belonging to him and him alone.

Going into 2022's Evil Dead Rise, which looks to reboot the Evil Dead franchise, or at least focus on new characters in the same universe, all indications are that both Campbell and Ash won't be appearing in any capacity. That's a wise move, as Campbell has been adamant that he's done with the role, and trying to recast it now would go over about as well as trying to recast Freddy Krueger did in 2010. It would do nothing but distract from the story Evil Dead Rise was trying to tell, and likely leave fans with a bad taste in their mouths, regardless of the quality of the rest of the film.