Fortnite's annual Fortnitemares event has revealed Evil Dead's Ash Williams as the latest IP character to join the popular battle royale video game.
The trailer for Fortnite's Halloween event, which begins today and lasts until Nov. 1, features a brief shot of Ash Williams, wielding his iconic chainsaw and fighting demonic creatures. The beloved horror character can currently be found in Fortnite as an NPC inside Evil Dead II's Knowby Cabin, which is located near the Reality Tree named location on the Chapter 3, Season 4 map. The character will also be added to the Fortnite Item Shop at some point during the Fortnitemares event as part of the Knowby Cabin Nightmare set. Fortnite leaker Shiina revealed the other cosmetics that will be part of the Evil Dead set include two back blings, a harvesting tool, an emote and a loading screen.
Portrayed by Bruce Campbell, Ash Williams first appeared in the 1981 low-budget horror film The Evil Dead. Following the massive success of The Evil Dead, both Campbell and writer/director Sam Raimi returned for two sequels -- Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992). Campbell also made an uncredited post-credits scene cameo as Ash in 2013's Evil Dead before starring in the Starz horror series Ash vs Evil Dead, which ran for three seasons between 2015 and 2018. He has also voiced Ash in several Evil Dead video games and is currently in talks to reprise the role in an animated series continuation of Ash vs Evil Dead. The Evil Dead franchise has accumulated a large, international cult following since its inception in 1981.
Fortnite Adds Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam
Fortnite also recently announced that a DC Comics antihero Black Adam skin, modeled after Dwayne Johnson's upcoming version of the character, will be available in the Item Shop for purchase on Oct. 20 at 8PM ET, a day before the DC film Black Adam opens in theaters. This will be the second time Johnson has appeared in Fortnite. He was previously revealed as the voice and face of The Foundation in a cinematic cutscene for the Chapter 2 finale, "The End." The Foundation is the leader of The Seven, a group of superheroes in the game that also plays a prominent role in the comics and in-game cinematics.
The Evil Dead franchise is set to continue, albeit without Ash Williams, in 2023 with the release of Evil Dead Rise. The upcoming fifth installment in the horror franchise will follow two sisters (Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan) trying to survive and save their family from demonic creatures known as Deadites. Lee Cronin wrote and directed Evil Dead Rise, which has Raimi and Campbell attached as executive producers. Warner Bros. is scheduled to release the film in theaters on April 21, 2023.