‘Ash Vs. Evil Dead’ Creator Sam Raimi Talks ‘Army Of Darkness’ Sequel

Ash vs. Evil Dead is one of the best franchise reboots currently running, particularly for horror fans, and a big reason for that is that there are so many original creative talents connected with the series. Bruce Campbell, of course, has reprised his role as the legendary Ash Williams, but there are even greater Evil Dead talents running things behind the scenes. Sam Raimi, who developed Ash vs. Evil Dead for television also created the original The Evil Dead (1983) and directed the sequels Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992). Raimi now reveals that he had planned for a sequel to Army of Darkness and millions of Evil Dead fans are now wishing Sam had carried through with his plans.

Sam Raimi Had Some Great Ideas For Army Of Darkness II

Army of Darkness ended the original Evil Dead saga as a trilogy, but, in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Sam Raimi reveals that plans for a fourth film had been a real possibility. Far more than a mere pipe dream, the Ash vs. Evil Dead creator says he and Ivan Raimi had worked together diligently, coming up with story after story for an Army of Darkness sequel.

One such story for an Evil Dead sequel would have been one of the earliest, if not the first, mockumentary style horror films with Bruce Campbell’s Ash going from stock boy to independent filmmaker.

“Bruce is a documentary filmmaker I remember one of them was, capturing his own journey through life,” says Sam. “I remember we wrote one version; we started to write one version of Evil Dead 4…”

Sam’s brother, Ivan Raimi, interjects the idea of sending Bruce cross country, much as he is currently doing in Ash vs Evil Dead.

“Bruce travels cross country to sell his documentary in a car to explain the importance of his story being told.”

Sam continues: “No one thought it was a very important story except him.”

Sam Raimi Shares More Army Of Darkness Story Arcs

Gizmodo picks up the story, revealing that plans for the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness sequel would have branched off in one of two possible timelines. One version of the sequel would have sent The Evil Dead‘s Ash Williams into England’s post-apocalyptic future, directly after the events of Army of Darkness. There was also the idea to send Ash right back to his starting point, which would have had the Army of Darkness sequel picking up with Ash back at S-Mart.

Interestingly, there was interest in both versions of the Evil Dead sequel with foreign markets eager for the post-apocalyptic England story arc, while Universal Pictures ordered the other version.

“So we wrote an Evil Dead 4 that followed both realities. We were going to be following two Bruces – one in the future and simultaneously crosscutting to Bruce here in the present,” says Raimi. “And we realized, we have really lost our mind now and we must stop.”

Yet another plot line would have introduced Ash to the threat of a machine army, and as Sam Raimi tells it, might have ended up much like the Terminator films. The idea of Ash vs. Machines was scrapped, due to the ambitious budget it would have required.

Eventually, there would be a sequel, of sorts. The idea of bringing Ash vs. Evil Dead to the small screen at first seemed like a questionable move, but, as the project began to materialize, it became apparent to Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and millions of Evil Dead fans that the new show would be just as gory, bloody, and funny as the first three films.

There was one other selling point, which Raimi expressed to Campbell, when the Ash vs. Evil Dead actor asked him how he felt about doing the small screen version.

“I thought it was great, because I realized the audience will only have to take you [Campbell] in little doses.”

Ash vs. Evil Dead premieres its second season on Sunday, October 2, on Starz.

[Image by Universal Pictures]