Earlier this week, Bruce Campbell promised that the official ASH VS. EVIL DEAD would be dropping on Friday, and our patience was rewarded tonight, as Starz has released a 3 minute long look at the upcoming TV series continuation of the EVIL DEAD franchise. With this trailer, the network has also announced that the first episode of the show has the perfect premiere date: it's set to air on the night of October 31st. Watching Campbell return to the role of Ash Williams for the first time since 1992 sounds like a great way to spend Halloween to me.
ASH VS. EVIL DEAD picks up thirty years after the events of THE EVIL DEAD, EVIL DEAD II, and ARMY OF DARKNESS:
Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter, has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.”
Judging from the trailer, the series looks to be a whole lot of bloody fun. The franchise's sense of humor is here in full force, Campbell is in fine form, and it appears that Ash's interactions with Ray Santiago as his sidekick Pablo Simon Bolivar and Dana DeLorenzo as moody wild child Kelly Maxwell are going to be very entertaining.
With a cast rounded out by Lucy Lawless, Mimi Rogers, and Jill Marie Jones, the first season of ASH VS. EVIL DEAD is set to run for ten half-hour episodes.
Sam Raimi directed the first episode from a script he wrote with Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy. Sam Raimi is also an executive producer on the show, as are Campbell, Rob Tapert, and showrunner Craig DiGregorio.