Announced at The Game Awards earlier this month,Evil Dead: The Gameis the latest in the growing number of co-operative multiplayer game adaptations of beloved horror franchises, joining the likes ofFriday the 13th: The GameandPredator: Hunting Grounds. In fact,Evil Dead: The Gameisn’t even the first of these titles to come from developer Saber Interactive (which is co-developing the title with Boss Team Games,) as the studio also created 2019’sWorld War Z.
While there is very little information available forEvil Dead: The Game, the game is releasing atan interesting point for Sam Raimi’sEvil Deadfranchise. The game is releasing 3 years after the cancelation of the film series' follow-up TV show,Ash vs. Evil Dead, which itself came two years after a reboot film directed by Fede Alvarez. A new entry in the film series,Evil Dead Rise, has also been announced, although there is very little information about this project as of yet. Despite this, and because ofAsh vs. Evil Dead’s cliffhanger ending,Evil Dead: The Gamehas the opportunity to move Ash Williams' story forward, even after actor Bruce Campbell has confirmed his retirement from the role on countless occasions.
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What We Know So Far
WhileEvil Dead: The Game’sreveal trailerat The Game Awards 2020 was intentionally vague, there were enough clues to give some idea of how this online multiplayer game intends to portray theEvil Deadfranchise. For starters, the trailer reveals Ash Williams,Army of Darkness' Lord Arthur, andAsh vs. Evil Dead’s Kelly as playable characters. While Bruce Campbell has confirmed that he is returning to portray Ash Williams once again for the game, it remains to be seen if Marcus Gilbert and Dena DeLorenzo will return to portray Lord Arthur and Kelly, respectively.
This thankfully tells us that characters from the entireEvil Deadseries are not off the cards, and that Boss Team Games and Saber Interactive will be able to utilise the fullEvil Deadfranchise.Ash vs. Evil Dead’s first season infamouslycould not referenceArmy of Darknessdue to legal restrictions, as the film’s rights belonged to a separate studio than the previous twoEvil Deadfilms. While we haven’t seen any characters from the 2013 reboot film, it’s safe to assume it will be referenced in some form in the final game.
Who’s In?
Knowing that every entry in theEvil Deadfranchise is on the cards forEvil Dead: The Gamemakes it exciting to speculate who the game can pull from the film franchise. The inclusion ofAsh vs. Evil Dead’s Kelly makes it very likely that Ray Santiago’s character Pablo is also very likely to appear as a playable character in the game,as well as some of Ash’s friends and love interests from the original films. Some fans of the franchise would also be excited to see Mia from theEvil Deadreboot, especially since it is implied that the reboot film exists in the same universe as the film and TV series.
The game will also likely feature Deadites from all four of the films and the TV series. Players will be able to control the Deaditesjust like Jason inFriday the 13th: The Gameand the game has been confirmed to include PVP elements, so it is possible that a variety of villains will appear in at least one mode of the game’s multiplayer. At the very least, definitely expect an appearance fromAsh vs. Evil Dead’s Ashy Slashy.
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The Future of Evil Dead?
Fans ofEvil Deadwill know thatthe finale ofAsh vs. Evil Deadleft the franchise in a familiar yet frustrating position. Much like the director’s cut ending ofArmy of Darkness, Ash Williams is stranded in an apocalyptic future with no sequel coming to save him, especially if Bruce Campbell is truly done portraying the character. Barring the upcoming Ash-less entry, this leavesEvil Dead: The Gameas currently the only possible avenue to see Ash’s story continue. Whether the game will however, remains unlikely, given its position as a multiplayer-only competitive game.
Competitive multiplayer games have managed to tell engaging narratives though, andwhileEvil Dead: The Gamemay not be the follow-up toAsh vs. Evil Deadseason 3that fans were expecting, it could move the needle for the franchise’s narrative enough to lead into an official follow up to Ash’s story, though be that through another video game, comic book or even TV show remains to be seen.
IfEvil Dead: The Gametakes a seasonal approach to its content, it could even give fans clues for what to expect inEvil Dead Rise. While the project has no release date yet, the only information being thatHole in the Grounddirector Lee Cronin is taking the helm and that the film will be set in a city, as revealed by Bruce Campbell, who is producing the film. Given the game and film’s development co-existing, we could very likely see characters fromEvil Dead Risefind their way intoEvil Dead: The Gameupon the film’s release andpossibly even a map based on the film’s Deadite-infested city.
As should be clear by now, this is all speculation, butEvil Dead: The Game’s release in this strange transitional period for the franchise means that we could see the biggestEvil Deadcross-over in the franchise’s history, tying together the franchise’s past, present, and future all at once.
Evil Dead: The Gameis set for release on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.
