Last Updated on March 14, 2025 by Angel Melanson
In the realm of big horror crossovers, few things have ever reached the high highs of 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, at least in terms of hype. Whether or not the movie lived up to the hype is a matter of personal opinion. In any event, it’s a very important movie. It was Robert Englund’s final turn as Freddy Krueger on the silver screen, for one. It was also the last time two true slasher icons have faced off in a studio movie. It didn’t have to be though, as New Line Cinema at least tried to make a Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash movie, which would have brought Evil Dead into the mix.
Unfortunately, studio politics got in the way of that proposed crossover ever happening, as amazing as it might have been. Bruce Campbell, who has played Ash Williams dating back to Sam Raimi’s original classic The Evil Dead, recently recounted what went down with the film. As the actor tells it, the whole thing was pretty brief. Speaking with Sam Roberts on his radio show recently, Campbell explained that it was nothing more than a five minute phone conversation.
“It was a lovely five minute phone call with New Line, who we called New Lies Cinema at that point. They were our first distributor of Evil Dead. They gave us a check and that was the only check we ever saw. Ever. So thanks, New Lies Cinema.”
So, for starters, Campbell, Raimi and producer Rob Tapert were not on terms with New Line Cinema, who distributed Freddy vs. Jason. Beyond that, the actor further explained that, from a creative standpoint, Ash was going to be chained down and wouldn’t be able to do much of anything that makes the character who he is. That was what killed the whole thing dead in its tracks.
“They do Jason vs. Freddy, they do that, they go, ‘How about Jason vs. Freddy vs. Ash?’ Won’t that be great? So we started out pretty immediately being like, ‘Yeah, won’t that be fantastic? Ash can finally kill both of those assholes. Let’s just get it done.’ Long pause. Long pause. ‘Um, you can’t affect anything that happens to either of the other characters. You can’t kill either of them. You can’t even determine what really happens in the fights. So it’s going to be like fight by committee.’”
Campbell, it’s worth noting, has said similar things about Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash in the past. Still, when it comes up, it’s heartbreaking and frustrating. “It’s sort of like when superheroes fight,” Campbell also mused. “What’s the point of Batman fighting Superman? There’s no point. Even though Superman could have squeezed his head like a zit.” The actor also pointed out that it would have made a lot of sense for Ash to prevail in the film.
“Ash is the only good guy of all these horror series. Yeah. So he needs to kill them. He would need to kill them, even if their eyes pop open at the very end and they cut to the credits like they normally do.”
Funny enough, Campbell also revealed that he never saw Freddy vs. Jason. Roberts marveled at the fact that he nailed the ending of the movie without having seen it. Campbell concluded by calling the whole enterprise creatively bankrupt, which made it an easy now for all of them.
“Creatively, it was bankrupt, and now you’re sharing nothing with three other parties, two other franchises. You think they’re gonna wanna play nice? No. We all said no. It was very quick. Why would we do this? To make Ash look like he’s ineffective?”
Alas, some things are too good for this world. A Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash comic book was published by DC Comics in 2008, but it's a little tough to find in the wild as it's been out of pring for some time. Luckily, the Evil Dead franchise is arguably more alive than it’s ever been. Thanks to the success of 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, Raimi, Campbell and Tapert are working on not one but two new Evil Dead movies, as well as a possible animated series.
The story for Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees is more hazy. There is no word currently on a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie, but it feels inevitable. It’s really a matter of when, not if. Jason, meanwhile, has been on the sidelines since 2009’s Friday the 13th remake. He’s next due to appear in A24’s Crystal Lake TV show on Peacock.
