Ash Vs. Evil Dead had plenty of history to draw on for the Starz take on Bruce Campbell’s chainsaw-wielding champion, though rights issues prevented any reference to the medieval Army of Darkness. Then, producers claimed Season 2 was free and clear to pay homage to Ash’s past adventures, but according to groovy Bruce himself, those reports were exaggerated.

JoBlo got Campbell singing a different tune with regard to Ash Vs. Evil Dead Season 2 including any references to Sam Raimi’s third Evil Dead film, even as producer Bob Tapert was the one to make the announcement in the first place:

I’ve been sort of putting that to bed. It was a random thing that Rob [Tapert] said, and you know how the internet is, if you see one sentence written, it’s real. I think Rob was more alluding to the fact that we’ve already taken stuff that would have been in Army of Darkness. He still time-travels before Army of Darkness. People have always asked, “Where is Army of Darkness?” Like, we don’t really need Army of Darkness. That was sort of our take on the whole thing. You’ve got to be careful referencing certain movies, because then you have to make deals with certain partners that might own those certain movies.

Now set for an October 2 premiere, Ash Vs. Evil Dead says of Season 2:

The second season roars back into action with Ash leaving his beloved Jacksonville and returning to his hometown of Elk Grove. There, he confronts Ruby. The former enemies have to form an uneasy alliance as Elk Grove soon becomes the nucleus of evil.

Elsewhere of Ash Vs. Evil Dead Season 2, we know that Sam Raimi’s brother Ted will appear in the role of Ash’s childhood best friend Chet Kaminski, independent of the prior three appearances in other Evil Dead movies (which can all now be referenced). Lee Majors, will play the role of Brock Williams, Ash’s father, while Sons of Anarchy alum Joel Tobeck will play the villainous Baal.

You can check out the full Season 2 trailer below, as well as the red-band, but will Ash Vs. Evil Dead Season 2 still pay homage to the franchise’s past?

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