WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Evil Dead Rise!Following the success of Evil Dead Rise, director Lee Cronin explained to Variety his four genius ideas to move the iconic horror franchise’s story forward. Evil Dead Rise is the fifth movie in Sam Raimi’s 42-year-old Evil Dead franchise, which also includes the TV show Ash vs. Evil Dead. While the first three Evil Dead movies followed Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams as he battled Deadites in the present day and medieval Europe, the 2013 Evil Dead remake/sequel and 2023 standalone sequel Evil Dead Rise follow brand-new characters and different demon-releasing Books of the Dead, proving how vast the possibilities are for expanding on the franchise.
While Warner Bros. Discovery has yet to confirm Evil Dead 6, the impressive box office success, critical acclaim, and story set-ups of Evil Dead Rise indicate that more installments will follow. Writer-director Lee Cronin already has four compelling ideas for Evil Dead Rise sequels, not all of which would follow Lily Sullivan’s new Final Girl, Beth. Evil Dead Rise’s ending saw Beth and Kassie escape the apartment with the chainsaw, the Book of the Dead still free in the apartment, a mess of blood in the parking garage, and the opening scene’s Deadite Jessica being possessed by the demon. As such, Evil Dead Rise sets up several avenues for the franchise’s future, which Cronin has raised as possibilities to explore further.
4 Evil Dead Rise 2: Follow The Chainsaw
Perhaps the most logical direction for the franchise to go after Evil Dead Rise’s climactic ending is the next chapter in Beth’s story. This is one of Cronin’s suggestions for a sequel, which would follow the chainsaw wielder after the 2023 movie’s events. Evil Dead Rise positions Lily Sullivan’s Beth as the franchise’s new lead, and since she survives the battle against the Marauder, it makes sense that a sequel would follow the chainsaw-wielding Final Girl into where life takes her next. Evil Dead Rise’s final moments didn’t reveal where Beth was headed with her niece Kassie after leaving the parking garage, but since Jessica turned into a Deadite with the possibility of a much larger demon attack, Beth will likely arm herself with the chainsaw again to battle more undead killers.
There were also several unanswered questions left in Evil Dead Rise that could be addressed in a direct sequel following Beth and Kassie. In addition to deciding to be a mother to her unborn child, Beth is also effectively the guardian of Kassie after the death of Beth’s sister Ellie, her nephew Danny, and niece Bridget. Since she’s now charged with protecting two lives in addition to her own, it’s unclear what Beth’s next path will be in dealing with the aftermath of Ellie’s possession. For instance, she could go to the police and attempt to explain the Deadite possession, try researching the Naturom Demonto’s history and potentially connect with Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams, take her chainsaw to the lake to battle Deadite Jessica, or start a new life completely.
3 Evil Dead Rise’s Book Of The Dead Origins
Another potential spinoff idea that Lee Cronin has proposed is to explore the history of Evil Dead Rise’s new Book of the Dead. Sam Raimi’s 1992 Evil Dead installment Army of Darkness revealed that three Books of the Dead exist, with the first book being the one that Ash Williams contends with, the second being the Naturom Demonto that Mia Allen battles in 2013’s Evil Dead, and the third being the book that Beth faces in Evil Dead Rise. Similar to previous movies that included history about the books before unlocking its demons, Evil Dead Rise gives a glimpse into the third Book of the Dead’s past that would make for an exciting follow-up movie.
Cronin confirmed that the history presented in the vinyl is “not by accident,” suggesting an Army of Darkness-style time travel sequel could be in play. Evil Dead Rise’s character Danny finds the Book of the Dead beneath the parking garage of the family’s apartment building, which was secured in the building’s former bank vault. Danny also found accompanying vinyl recordings made by priests from 1923, who were conducting experiments around the book before releasing its demons. Bruce Campbell’s Evil Dead Rise cameo occurs on the vinyls as a “priest” urging the others to stop because it’s “called the ‘Book of the Dead’ for a reason.” Cronin also suggested that this “priest” may, in fact, be Ash Williams, which could set up a spinoff surrounding Ash’s 1923 journey and the priests’ book experiments.
2 Evil Dead Rise’s Apartment Aftermath Clean-Up Crew
Leaning into the franchise’s campy humor, Cronin also suggested that an Evil Dead Rise sequel could follow the clean-up crew dealing with the aftermath of Deadite attacks. Considering gallons upon gallons of blood were left in the apartment building’s units, elevator, lobby, and parking garage, cleaning up after the possessed demonic attack of Alyssa Sutherland’s Evil Dead Rise character Ellie is a brutal job. Beth and Kassie leave the apartment building with no intentions of returning, so the clean-up task would be left up to the building’s maintenance team or an outside hire.
The Evil Dead movies have yet to explain how the aftermath of Deadite attacks are addressed, so Cronin’s spinoff idea offers a brilliant expansion on the franchise’s world building. By focusing on the apartment building rather than the book or one of Evil Dead Rise’s surviving characters, a sequel could follow the clean-up crew arriving on the scene, who could potentially find themselves as the demons’ next victims. However, since Ellie revealed the apartment building was already being condemned, the clean-up crew and authorities would likely decide to knock the historic location down upon seeing the mess the Deadites left behind.
1 Returning To Evil Dead’s Cabin In The Woods
While Army of Darkness already left the cabin in the woods for the castles of medieval Europe, Evil Dead Rise broke franchise tradition by primarily setting the characters’ first battle with the Book of the Dead in an urban apartment building rather than a secluded cabin. However, Evil Dead Rise still incorporated the cabin in the woods location in the gory opening scene, which saw Teresa, Jessica, and Jessica's boyfriend Caleb gathering at a lakeside cabin for the weekend. In typical Evil Dead fashion, the trip turned sour when revealing that Jessica was already a Deadite, with her possession being explained by the 2023 movie’s closing scene.
Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin has put forward the idea for a sequel to properly return to the franchise’s familiar cabin in the woods setting. Cronin explained that Evil Dead Rise’s opening and closing scenes reiterate that “this evil has a gate,” which inevitably leads back to the forest. There are likely more individuals in cabins on Evil Dead Rise’s lake that could become victims of Jessica’s Deadite assault, thus using a sequel to explore a large-scale attack back in the woods. Since bringing Evil Dead Rise’s story back to these woods would still keep the story close to Los Angeles, it’s possible that Beth and Kassie could also return upon hearing reports of the possessions and deaths.
