Why Evil Dead’s Bruce Campbell Feels Bad For Superhero Actors

Bruce Campbell in Ash vs. Evil Dead
(Image credit: (Starz Entertainment))

With the recent unfortunate cancellation of the eccentric horror show Ash vs. Evil Dead by Starz after its three season run, it begs the question: what role we will see the hilarious and talented Bruce Campbell take on next? Since the horror icon slashed the possibility for Ash to return and announced his retirement from the character, some fans might be experiencing some Campbell withdrawals. However, there is one genre you can rule out for the humorous actor, superhero films. He has recently his expressed his deep sympathy for actors who sign on to play these high-profile roles, referring to the ridiculous contracts that come with suiting up. Here's what he said:

Big blockbuster movies, whenever I see an actor get cast in one of those, I wince, because I go, 'Oh, that poor son of a bitch is going to be in that suit for 10 years.' If shooting schedule's seven months of shooting, you get your one month in the Bahamas, and then you're promoting for three months, then you go right back to the next sequel, back in that same fucking suit.

Yikes, it looks like the long list of superhero actors, counting Chris Evans, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, can now consider themselves roasted by Bruce Campbell. The actor's words to ComicBook.com aren't wrong though. While being a superhero certainly has its perks, like­ fame, fortune, your own action figure, etc, ­ it also can take quite the toll on an actor. After long shoots, and oftentimes reshoots, the casts travel to destinations around the world for months on end, answering the same questions like "So how did you get in shape for this role?" The process repeats the more films the actor does, so Robert Downey Jr. is going on eight for his Iron Man appearances.

Way back when, Bruce Campbell was a small part of the original Spider-Man trilogy, playing a different role in each of the films, adding a bit of comedic relief opposite Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker. Campbell admits though that his only draw to the franchise was Sam Raimi, who has been a frequent contributor to the horror genre, including directing the first three Evil Dead movies and serving as executive producer to Ash vs. Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell also further explained his distaste for the superhero genre by bringing up the technical acting involved. While Campbell had experience with both practical and CGI effects on Ash vs. Evil Dead, CGI effects were particularly a bother to him, bringing to attention the way these actors must act with nothing... or to a tennis ball. Additionally, Campbell expressed his opinion that superheroes onscreen just aren't flawed enough.

So it's safe to say Bruce Campbell won't be getting into comic book adaptations. But at least we'll always have his Spider-Man cameos, right? Regardless, stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest news regarding superhero movies.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.