Evil Dead: Why Mia should return for another film in the franchise

It has been six years since Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead remake starring Jane Levy and personally, I think the time is ripe for Levy to return in a sequel film.

I remember seeing the 2013 Evil Dead remake in theaters. I was young at the time and I hadn’t actually experienced the original film, so Mia was my first introduction into the zany, horrific, world of the Necromonicon and Deadites.

At the time, I only knew Jane Levy from her work on the sitcom, Suburgatory. So her as a “final girl” in Evil Dead was a stark departure from what I’d known her in previously. Evil Dead horrified me at the time.

It was probably one of the goriest movies I had ever seen. But it firmly entrenched me in the world, made me a fan of a new awesome, kick-ass heroine, and got me fully devoted to the franchise as a whole.

Of course after watching the remake, I eventually went back and watched the other films and have since continued being an avid fan of the series (and before anyone breaks out the pitchforks, I totally respect and love Bruce Campbell’s legacy), but the remake will always have a special place in my heart.

What Made Mia so Special?

Not only was Mia a young girl who had to take care of her ailing mother all alone, she was also battling a heroin addiction and forced to go through withdrawal at a cabin in the woods with her friends. (Considering one of her friends was a nurse, she should have known you can’t force an addict to get clean.) But it turns Evil Dead and Mia’s ensuing fight against the Abomination into a modern-day parable about fighting addiction.

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This poor girl is traumatized from beginning to end. First by being coaxed into going cold turkey without her full consent, she then gets attacked by the infamous Evil Dead-brand trees, her soul ripping out of her body as she’s taken over by a demonic entity that systematically assists in viciously murdering all of her friends.

As if that isn’t enough, Mia dies too. Her brother is able to revive her but one has to wonder what her psyche will be like after the brutal torture her soul supposedly went through while in hell. Yet she still doesn’t catch a break, as not long after she returns to the land of the living, the Abomination rises and comes after her with a machete.

Mia even gets to pay homage to the original Ash, circa Evil Dead II, when she’s forced to cut her hand off after a car falls on her arm and replaces it with a chainsaw.

In my mind, that scene was meant as a proverbial passing-of-the-torch (or chainsaw) type moment, as Mia took up the mantle as Ash’s successor.

She was never your average “final girl” character. She didn’t happen upon survival by accident. Mia fought to live with everything she had left in her and eventually triumphed over her metaphorical demons and the real ones.

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 20: Jane Levy speaks onstage at Hulu’s World Premiere Screening of “Castle Rock” during Comic-Con International 2018 at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Why Do We Deserve a Sequel?

Well for starters, since Evil Dead, Jane Levy has become something of a scream queen in her own right. Post 2013, she went on to star in another critically acclaimed horror movie with Alvarez as a director, Don’t Breathe. And just this past year she starred in Stephen King’s Hulu series, Castle Rock. Her name commands more respect than it did six years ago.

Even though Mia gets free of the Deadites, I felt as if we were seeing the beginning of her journey, not the ending. The end of Evil Dead left plenty of questions still needing answers in regards to Mia.

What happened to her soul while it was out of her body? If it was damaged, would she be impacted by it moving forward? Will she officially be able to kick her heroin addiction or will it come back due to the trauma she’s faced and losing her brother?

Is the chainsaw going to become a permanent addition to her repertoire? In the original sequel, the entity wasn’t actually gone for good, how do we know the Deadites won’t return later on?

And I’m not saying that we have to get a direct sequel to the 2013 film either. Plenty of time has passed since then, maybe we could get a movie set in the future where a recovered Mia winds up getting roped into the madness yet again.

We’ve seen how the Evil Dead franchise can evolve. I’d even be happy with a guest spot for her in a new film but I’d like to see her again in some shape or form.

At least, it would appear, Alvarez is thinking along the same lines. Last year, while giving an interview to Entertainment Weekly about his latest film, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, he mentioned the possibility of making a sequel to the 2013 film:

"“Look, I love those movies,” he says. “Making my Evil Dead was an amazing experience, it was my first film. So, going back at some point will be a possibility. I mean, I’m really good friends with all those guys, with Bruce, and Sam, and Rob (Tapert, who has produced all the Evil Dead movies). So, we always chat about it.”"

Is it possible my dream of seeing Mia come back might actually come to fruition?

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Although there are currently no confirmed plans to begin work on an Evil Dead sequel, Fede Alvarez’s next projects include a sequel to Don’t Breathe, and a sequel to Labyrinth.

Jane Levy is currently working on a new Netflix series called What/If.

Would you like to see Mia return in another Evil Dead installment? Which Evil Dead film is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

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