As the franchise looks to be heading in a different direction, Bruce Campbell and Jane Levy are jokingly teasing the previously-discussed Evil Dead franchise crossover. Campbell was originally the face of Sam Raimi's horror franchise as Ashley J. Campbell, a ne'er-do-well frequently pitted against the demonic forces known as the Deadites. Levy briefly took on the leading mantle with 2013's Evil Dead as Mia, a drug addict struggling to get cleaned targeted for possession by the malevolent force awakened by the Naturom Demonto.Fresh off the film's acclaimed South by Southwest debut, Bruce Campbell took to Twitter to jokingly reveal that Sam Raimi is pushing for him to come back to the Evil Dead franchise.

The post, as seen above, features a bit of fan art imagining Campbell's Ash Campbell partnered up with Jane Levy's Mia Allen, setting up the previously discussed Evil Dead franchise crossover. Levy herself quote tweeted the post with a simple "Lol".

Why The Evil Dead Crossover Should Still Happen

Custom image of Jane Levy in Evil Dead and Lily Sullivan in Evil Dead Rise.

Plans for an Evil Dead crossover between Campbell and Levy's films were first revealed near the time of the 2013 re-imagining's release, with co-writer/director Fede Álvarez and franchise creator Sam Raimi confirming plans for both an Evil Dead 2 and Evil Dead 4, the latter of which would act as a direct sequel to Army of Darkness. The two films were initially planned to help set up a seventh Evil Dead movie merging the stories of Ash and Mia, only for the focus on Ash vs. Evil Dead and the Don't Breathe movies to put those plans on ice.

Campbell's retirement from the live-action world of the Evil Dead franchise may make these crossover plans harder to accomplish, but ultimately it's a concept that should still be explored. The original idea seemed to be setting up a passing of the mantle between Ash and Mia, a dynamic somewhat featured in Ash vs. Evil Dead, though pairing Campbell and Levy would be a compelling return to the lower-stakes roots of the horror franchise.

Related: Evil Dead Rise Already Dodged One Horror Reboot’s Biggest MistakeIt's currently unclear how the forthcoming Evil Dead Rise will factor into the larger lore and timeline of the franchise, but establishing the Evil Dead crossover with Ash or Mia seems like a viable way to evolve the series in exciting new directions. Additionally, with the next chapter featuring a largely female cast, Levy's 2013 protagonist returning would keep a fresh change of pace towards a powerful feminine focus over the somewhat misogynistic Campbell era.

Sources: Jane Levy & Bruce Campbell/Twitter

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