Sam Raimi’s abandoned Evil Dead 4 followed both endings of Army of Darkness

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Before we got the news that Bruce Campbell would return to the role of Ash in the upcoming Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead, there was the ever present possibility that Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi would return for a fourth EVIL DEAD film. Per ScreenCrush, Sam Raimi spoke at New York Comic-Con after a screening of the first episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead and spilled a few details on how EVIL DEAD 4 would have continued the franchise.

Before we get into the details, we need a little history lesson; the original ending of ARMY OF DARKNESS had Ash being provided with a sleeping potion which would let him hibernate all the way back to his time. As this is Ash we're talking about, he messes up the dosage and instead of waking up in the present, wakes up in a post-apocalyptic future instead. However, the studio frowned on this dour ending and demanded a more upbeat conclusion to the film. Now we're all caught up.

During a Q&A following the Ash vs. Evil Dead screening, Sam Raimi was asked whether he'd considered following the original ending of ARMY OF DARKNESS as a jumping off point for the show. Raimi replied that before EVIL DEAD 4 turned into Ash vs. Evil Dead, he and his brother Ivan were working on a script which would star two versions of Ash, one from each ending of ARMY OF DARKNESS. The film would have used both timelines to tell two parallel stories, one featuring present day Ash and the other future Ash. In the end Sam Raimi decided that things would have gotten too confusing, so the idea was abandoned and development began on Ash vs. Evil Dead. ARMY OF DARKNESS was able to make two versions of Ash work, albeit under different circumstances, but it's still a very interesting idea.

Would you have prefered an EVIL DEAD film which took this direction over a TV series?