Ash vs Evil Dead: Is there a connection to Freddy vs Jason vs Ash?

Ash vs Evil Dead may have a connection to the Freddy vs Jason vs Ash film treatment that was circulating over 16 years ago.

Ash vs Evil Dead was an inventive series that picked up after Army of Darkness ended. We found the “Hero from the Sky,” Ash Williams, older but definitely not wiser and still employed as a clerk in a discount retail store. Except now, he was working at Value Stop and not S-Mart.

Prior to fans getting the STARZ show, there were discussions centered around bringing Bruce Campbell’s character into the Freddy vs Jason universe. For years, fans wanted to see Campbell on screen battling Robert Englund and Kane Hodder.

According to Comicbook, Robert Englund believed that the film didn’t get made because Sam Raimi was keen on Ash winning the epic battle. Campbell also echoed those sentiments when he appeared at Wizard World in Nashville.

However, he strongly intimated that the other issue that kept the epic horror production from being made was money. In his words:

"“Then you’ve got to split those pesky profits up. Who wants to do that? Not New Line Cinema.”"

So, negotiations fell apart. Which is understandable because more times than not, rights are a huge issue with franchise films. Hence, the reason why we don’t have a new Friday the 13th which is still in ongoing litigation centering around writer Victor Miller attempting to revoke his copyright agreement with Sean S. Cunningham’s Horror, Inc.

While Evil Dead fans hope that someday they will see their chainsaw handed, boomstick wielding main man taking on Krueger and Voorhees, we think that they may have actually seen a part of that proposed effort in the first episode of Ash vs Evil Dead.

In the Sam Raimi directed “El Jefe” from Season 1 of the STARZ series, we are introduced to Williams working at Value Stop. How does that fit in with Freddy vs Jason vs Ash? It is very similar to the way that he appears in the treatment for the film.

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For those of you that aren’t familiar with that term, a treatment is a document that screenwriters will prepare before launching into a full-length script. Basically, it is a summary that highlights important scenes and the plot of their movie so that they can sell their idea to producers or studio executives.

When we first see Ash on screen in the treatment for Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, he has transferred to a brand-new S-Mart in Crystal Lake. Of course, he is the oldest employee there and he is surrounded by kids who think he is another “Crazy Ralph” because he keeps alluding to the fact that he has a “higher purpose.”

There is one employee that is intrigued with him and that is his fellow clerk, Caroline. She is rather shy and is longing for some excitement in her life. Sound familiar? In Ash vs Evil Dead, “Caroline” is replaced by Ray Santiago’s Pablo.

Even the way that Ash reveals his personal story to her on how he lost his hand is basically a flashback to Evil Dead 2. Which is how he explained his life to Pablo in Ash vs Evil Dead.

To read the full length treatment, click on this link from Nightmare on Elm Street Films. If you want to see the similarities between Ash and Pablo’s scene in “El Jefe” and Ash and Caroline in Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, go to page 4.

Next. Ash vs Evil Dead: Top 10 kick ass songs from the show. dark

Ash vs Evil Dead is available on VUDU, Netflix, Hulu, You Tube, STARZ, Amazon Prime and Sling TV.

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