Even before it hit store shelves, Mortal Kombat 11 has been married to a constant rumor that Ash Williams from the horror franchise Evil Dead was going to be one of its many guest characters. Datamining made reference to the character, reveal trailers have had what many thought were not-so-subtly hints at the character’s arrival, and the latest was an email that seemed to have gone live a little early, outright confirming the character’s spot in the game. But the man behind the grooviness is staying steadfast in saying that it isn’t happening.
In an interview with Fansided, Bruce Campbell, the actor who portrayed the character throughout film, TV and video games, was asked about Ash showing up in MK11, specifically about the e-mail mentioned above. He denied the rumors, though did say that MGM owns the rights to Army of Darkness (the third film in the franchise) and there could be some back and forth he is unaware of, but it’s unlikely anything is being done without him knowing.
“The reason why it may not happen, just so you and the readers can know this, a lot of time for legal purposes, that character cannot appear in other things because of the license. If you can’t make a deal, that character is not going to show up. So, we may have been talked to about it.
“But I do know with MGM that handles the Army of Darkness licensing that they’re hasn’t been a discussion with them about it. They’re pretty touchy. We have to be careful of ownership.
“I honestly don’t know. I think I would have heard something. It’s not like my agent books me without consulting with me.
“Even if Mortal Kombat came to me and said they want to put me in it, you still have to make a deal. If my agent says, “Bruce Campbell wants a hundred billion dollars,” and then they say no, the deal is dead.”
“The answer is we don’t know. No point in beating around about that.”
This isn’t the first time he’s denied rumors of Ash being in the game, actually it’s not even the second. Campbell has been pretty consistent in his denial, but then again, things keep piling up to suggest otherwise. Even if Ash won’t be cutting up in Mortal Kombat 11, Campbell did say an Evil Dead game was coming later year, so maybe we’ll get that grooviness one way or another.
