Good ol’ groovy Bruce Campbell has remained as handsome as ever, but can the aging lothario still slip into the aging lothario role of Starz’s Ash Vs. Evil Dead? A resounding Hail to the King, as Ash returns to chainsaw-wielding form by the first photo of Starz’s new Deadite drama.

As debuted at Entertainment Weekly, our first official in-canon look at Ash Vs. Evil Dead features Ash, chainsaw and all, flanked by his new sidekicks Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana Delorenzo). All three are noted to be employees of “Value Stop,” which, what in the underworld happened to S-Mart?

Ash Vs Evil Dead Photo
Starz / EW
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Says Campbell of the new show’s dynamic:

It’s The Searchers with carnage and mayhem. I’m relegated a little bit into the John Wayne mode these days with my team—the young, virile, evil fighters who will pair up with Ash and take on this nemesis: this never ending, ever evolving nemesis.

Adds executive producer Sam Raimi, who himself directs the premiere:

He’s the only one stupid enough to really tamper with those spirits, and he does. But he’s also still a really good monster fighter. So, he’s also going to be kicking some deadite buttocks, if you’ll pardon the French.

For those who’ve missed out, so reads the official Ash Vs. Evil Dead synopsis:

Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.

The cast is led by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick, Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past and Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner.

The first episode was written with Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy, with Sam Raimi also serving as executive producer alongside Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell. 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.

Ash Vs. Evil Dead will have even more groovy debuts at Comic-Con 2015, but does the first photo officially resurrect the franchise? Will Starz’s return bring that same groovy magic?

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