Bruce Campbell's Evil Dead Burn Cameo & Future Involvement In Sam Raimi's Franchise Clarified

EXCLUSIVE: Bruce Campbell made a sneaky return in Evil Dead Burn, and he has some clarification on what it means for the future.

Co-written and directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the new installment in the horror franchise centered on Souheila Yacoub's Alice, as she's forced to spend time with her dysfunctional in-laws following the abrupt death of her husband, only for the Deadite curse to make its way to them and make everything a bloody affair. Also starring Tandi Wright, Hunter Doohan, Luciane Buchanan and Erroll Shand, Evil Dead Burn garnered generally favorable reviews from critics and was a modest box office success.

Throughout its 109-minute runtime, Evil Dead Burn came with plenty of connective threads to its franchise predecessors, ranging from the introduction of a new Kandarian dagger to the surprise end-credits return of Alyssa Sutherland's Ellie from Rise. On a more humorous note, the film also featured a new cameo from Campbell in slightly different fashion, with one of the photos on the wall of the Price house being that of the actor's actual professional headshot.

In a recent interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns for his new dramedy Ernie & Emma, Bruce Campbell reacted to his Evil Dead Burn cameo. When asked about the theories of the photo of Benjamin Price, the grandfather of the family tied to the mysterious Circle of the Wise Men, being that of him in makeup, Campbell quickly said, "[It wasn't me] to my knowledge, not to my knowledge," leaving only the photo on the stairway to be the confirmed cameo of his.

As the conversation shifted to what his presence is going to look like in the Evil Dead franchise going forward, Campbell reaffirmed that "Ash is done," revealing that the animated revival of Ash vs Evil Dead is dead, unless the studios elect to cast someone else in his place. The franchise veteran went on to reveal that he has "stepped back" from the series as a whole, confirming that he "was not that involved in Burn," particularly due to his focus on Ernie & Emma:

Bruce Campbell: It really boils down to that: spending time in another country working on somebody else's movie, or spending time in your hometown working on your own movie? It wasn't a hard choice, you know what I mean? When I didn't have to actually work on the Evil Dead movies, they're still optional, and because they're optional, I just opted out. I just said, "I'm making a movie. I got to go make this movie, and I got to make this movie for as many years as it takes, because after this run at Alamo Drafthouse, I'm going to theoretically jump to another tour." 18 cities in America is nothing. You got to get 30, 40, 50 markets to impress a streamer, and that's what I intend to do. And if I have to do it myself, drive into these damn things with my digital cinema package, then I will do it. I don't care. You can't scare me.

Campbell's decision to step away from the Evil Dead franchise officially marks the end of an era for the series. Even after the film series initially went on hiatus following Army of Darkness, the star remained thoroughly dedicated to its return, including being involved in the development of Fede Álvarez's 2013 rebootquel, in which he made a cameo appearance in its post-credits, all until his proper return with Ash vs Evil Dead.

The initial apparent dual photo cameo from Campbell in Evil Dead Burn sparked some shocked discussions among franchise fans, given it would be his first official time playing a character other than Ash. Though never explicitly confirmed, Lee Cronin did indicate that Campbell's vocal cameo in Rise was still his character, and Vaniček also hasn't offered any official explanation as to a potential canon reason for the photo in the Price family's home.

While longtime franchise fans may be disappointed to hear Campbell is leaving Evil Dead behind, it should come as somewhat of an encouraging sign that he's doing so for a project as personal to him as Ernie & Emma. With it also being a rare film to get a roadshow tour with Campbell himself in tow, it could very well fulfill his goal of securing a streaming home, and lead him to plan his next directorial effort.