Bruce Campbell has formally retired from the role of Ash

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Last Friday, we received the sad but expected news that Starz had cancelled Ash vs. Evil Dead. Airing this Sunday, the season three finale will also be the series finale. As soon as the cancellation was announced, fans of the EVIL DEAD franchise began trying to figure out how they could save the show, hoping they could get it moved over to a different channel or streaming service – the greatest hope being Netflix.

Star Bruce Campbell appreciates their passion, but has made it clear that he's not interested in giving Ash vs. Evil Dead a post-Starz-cancellation try somewhere else, taking to his social media accounts to post a message in which he has formally retired from the role of Ash Williams.

This is a moment Campbell tried to brace us for last month, when he said that if Starz were to cancel the show, 

I think Ash is done. I have lavender on my property. I’m going to smoke weed and hang out."

Saying that it's "time to fry some other fish", Campbell put his days of playing Ash behind him with the following announcement: 

Good people, Evil Dead fans everywhere, I bid you a heartfelt farewell playing Ash – the character I took acting lessons with for 39 years.

I am hereby retiring from that portrayal. It’s time. I followed Ash from his formative years thru his mid-life crisis and decline. What a thrill! What a privilege!

We had a great resurgence with the help of Starz (kudos not jeers, folks). They made it possible for 15 more hours of Evil Dead-ness in your life – the equivalent of 10 more features!

Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.

Thanks for watching.

Love,
Bruce"

It's very sad to hear that Campbell is done playing Ash, especially when there had still been the intention of telling more stories with the character on Ash vs. Evil Dead if Starz had given the greenlight to a fourth season. Those are stories that won't be told now, and for the first time in the franchise's history there's no hope of seeing the character back in action. Not even the level of hope we had back in the days when Campbell would say there wasn't going to be an "EVIL DEAD 4" because Sam Raimi was busy making SPIDER-MAN movies.

At least we have three feature films and three seasons of a TV show to return to again and again. There's roughly 19 hours of Ash action we can enjoy for the rest of our days. (Not counting the video games and comic books.)

Thanks to Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi for letting us get to know such an awesome character.

Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash. #timetofrysomeotherfish https://t.co/Di1aeBV0dl

— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) April 23, 2018