Ash vs Evil Dead

Did You Know?

• During the 2016 U.S. election, Starz created a fictional web campaign called 'Ash For President' to promote the second season, where Ash promised to turn the White House into a party house.
• In June 2016, a photo of actress Samara Weaving in makeup for the show was falsely circulated as evidence of violence against a Trump supporter; Bruce Campbell and Weaving both corrected the misinformation online.
• The series is set approximately 30 years after Ash Williams returned from 1300 AD at the end of Army of Darkness (1992).

Cast

Bruce Campbell portrays Ash Williams, a survivor of multiple attacks by the Evil Dead three decades earlier. Campbell described Ash as having survivor's guilt and being emotionally stunted. Over the first season, it is revealed that Ash spent thirty years drifting, living in a mobile home with his pet lizard Eli, and working dead-end jobs at Value Stop. He attempted to destroy the Necronomicon multiple times but instead became its de facto caretaker. In season two, it is shown that Ash returned to his hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan, where residents refused to believe his stories and accused him of murder, dubbing him "Ashy Slashy".

Ray Santiago plays Pablo Simon Bolivar, a co-worker who becomes Ash's loyal sidekick and calls him "El Jefe". Raised by his uncle, a shaman, Pablo fights alongside Ash and Kelly before being torn apart by the demon Baal and later resurrected. In season three, he succeeds his uncle as a "brujo especial".

Dana DeLorenzo portrays Kelly Maxwell, an initially reluctant co-worker who joins the fight after being orphaned. Described as a spiritual daughter of Ash, she is impulsive but skilled in fighting. Her family is Jewish, and her mother died in a car accident six months before the series begins.

Jill Marie Jones appears in season one as Amanda Fisher, a Michigan State Trooper seeking Ash after her partner's death. Lucy Lawless plays Ruby Knowby, a mysterious figure hunting the source of evil outbreaks.

Production

The series originated from two competing ideas for a fourth Evil Dead film, but the Raimi brothers could not secure funding and instead developed it as a television show. Sam Raimi aimed to make the series accessible to new viewers and create new characters. The project was first revealed at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, and Starz ordered the series that November. Bruce Campbell stated that Starz allowed the show to be unrated and unrestricted, without requiring alternate versions.

The pilot was written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, and Tom Spezialy, with Raimi directing. Robert Tapert returned as producer in February 2015. Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, and Jill Marie Jones were cast in lead roles, with Lucy Lawless joining in March 2015. Filming began in Auckland, New Zealand in April 2015.

Due to legal issues with Universal Pictures, events from Army of Darkness could not be mentioned in the first season. The producers resolved the rights issue by mid-2016, allowing references to Army of Darkness from season two onward.

Music

Joseph LoDuca, a frequent Sam Raimi collaborator who composed scores for the Evil Dead films, created the original music for Ash vs Evil Dead. The series uses excerpts from 1970s and 1980s popular songs, particularly by artists from the Detroit area such as Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, and Frijid Pink. Multiple Deep Purple songs from the 1970s are also featured. Sam Raimi stated that the music reflects Ash's lack of growth over 30–35 years and the last time he was engaged in society. In the season two finale, a marching band plays Victory for MSU, the fight song of Michigan State University. A soundtrack album, Ash vs Evil Dead: Music from the STARZ Original Series, was released digitally on December 11, 2015, and on audio CD on December 18, 2015.