‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ (2015)

The Deadite menace is returning once again in Ash vs. Evil Dead, a new series from Starz that picks up the story of Evil Dead hero Ashley J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) many years after he was last seen battling the forces of evil in Army of Darkness. Produced by Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, the show will see Ash facing off against a new Deadite plague that threatens to wipe out humanity.

The first teaser for Ash vs. Evil Dead was merely a graphic featuring the spindly trees that were an iconic part of Evil Dead‘s setting (and also played a role in one of the original movie’s most notorious scenes). Now Starz has released a new teaser that features two old friends: Ash’s chainsaw/hand substitute, and the character’s famous catchphrase.

The cast of Ash vs. Evil Dead also includes Lucy Lawless (Salem) as a mysterious woman called Ruby who believes that Ash is the cause of the Deadite plague, and Jill Marie Jones (Sleepy Hollow) as Amanda, a cop who thinks that Ash is responsible for the murder of her partner. It seems poor Ash just gets blamed for everything these days.

Also starring in the series are Ray Santiago (Touch) as Ash’s new sidekick Pablo Simon Bolivar, Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas) as Pablo’s friend Kelly, and Mimi Rogers (Mad Men) as a character called Suzy Maxwell. Craig DiGregorio (Reaper) will act as showrunner.

Ash vs. Evil Dead began production in New Zealand last month, and a promotional photo of Campbell, Raimi, and producer Rob Tapert revealed that the Oldsmobile Delta 88 – a mainstay of Raimi’s films – will appear in the series, presumably with Ash behind the wheel. With filming underway and the series set to premiere in a few months, we hope to see some real footage from Ash vs. Evil Dead fairly soon.

Teasers like this are definitely a good way to get Evil Dead fans excited for the return of Ash and the Deadites, but the real challenge for Ash vs. Evil Dead will be bringing something new to the table rather than simply relying on self-referential humor. This is a show that could easily skate by for quite a while on “boom stick” jokes, but it will need to develop its own identity in order to have real staying power.

Ash vs. Evil Dead will premiere on Starz in fall 2015.