New 'Ash Vs. Evil Dead' Photo and 'Army of Darkness' Details

We’re still in a bout of disbelief over Starz returning Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to their respective grooves for Ash Vs. Evil Dead, but that certainly won’t stop the Deadites from rising. Now, the trio of Campbell, Raimi and Rob Tapert have opened up on details of the new series, also revealing the first production photo.

Speaking with a group of reporters, the three offered some surprising details of the upcoming half-hour Starz horror-comedy, including that the story will diverge somewhat from trilogy closer Army of Darkness, keeping a loose continuity to draw new viewers to the franchise. We’ll pick up with Ash 30 years after the events of Evil Dead 2, but return to a somewhat smaller scale.

Says Tapert of the show’s context:

[Ash Vs. Evil Dead] doesn’t really exist in the exact same universe. It’s a slightly altered universe. It takes place somewhere in an alternate universe after Evil Dead 2. That might seem like a confusing answer. I don’t want to spoil too much for the audience, but that’s the truest answer I can give. We would be seeing similar locations, meaning it lives in a modern day world with Ash battling evil in this era, the modern day. Ash went through that [Army of Darkness] experience, but we’re not really referencing it in terms of we’re not referencing specifics from that, but he certainly has that in his memory.

At the very least, most of the familiar story elements will remain in play, with updated-looking Deadites returning at the Necronomicon’s behest (again Ash’s fault), having largely been dormant for 20-30 years. We may see additional types of creatures as well, though Raimi cautioned that more fantastical elements like the use of time and space portals might be reserved for a second season.

In addition to Ash’s sidekicks in Ray Santiago’s Pablo Simon Bolivar and Dana DeLorenzo’s Kelly Maxwell, Tapert also offered a bit more detailed insight into Lucy Lawless’ mysterious Ruby and the rest of the cast:

They are joined by Jill Marie Jones, who plays the part of Amanda Fisher, a Michigan State Police Detective who sees something that she doesn’t believe and it causes her great problems in her profession. And she is on the trail to hunt down Ash because she believes that he is responsible for this series of bodies. Eventually, she teams up with Ruby, played by Lucy Lawless, who is – she knows something about the Evil Dead and she also is on the hunt for Ash. And so kind of that is the core team over the first season. And there’s many other side characters who come and go, but that’s the core team for the first season.

For those unfamiliar with the original Evil Dead, the film followed Campbell’s Ash and friends as they visited a woodland cabin, where they accidentally release demons intent on possessing the living. The film spawned two sequels and numerous tie-ins, as well as the recent 2013 reboot, to which sequels still remain a possibility

Tapert, Raimi and Campbell also posed for a start of production photo with the classic 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, but will Starz’s Ash Vs. Evil Dead live up to the legacy of its predecessors? Check out the first teaser below!