Award shows are usually a load of bunk. We all know that, right? Well this year, one man has a plan to make the Emmys groovy again. Bruce Campbell, star of everything from Xena and Hercules to Burn Notice and disrupting weather forecasts, has made the wildest pitch: that he should be nominated for an Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy series, specifically for Ash vs. The Evil Dead.
For the proudly B-list actor who excels at playing goofy, loud-mouthed characters and is happy to be avoid the fakery of tinseltown, a nomination would be a victory for all the unsung stage and screen heroes out there. Besides, if anyone deserves it, it’s him. #Ash4Emmy
So watch his hilarious pitch videos:
And if you still need any reasons as to why comic book fans should lend him their vote then here are ten…
1) He’s a friend of Spider-Man:
Sure you know who Bruce Campbell is! In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy of films, he starred as the wrestling promoter who gave him the name Spider-Man, was a snarky usher who caused Peter Parker to miss seeing a play, and was the poorly-accented French maitre d’ who tried to help Peter propose to MJ! Surely this must make him one of the most influential characters in Marvel movies? It may not get him invited to a party at Avengers Tower, but it’s still a big deal.
2) He’s a foe of Superman:
He’s battled the man of steel too! In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman he had a recurring role as Bill Church Jr. That name may not sound familiar, but he was a combination of comic book villains Morgan Edge and Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim. As such, he was in charge of InterGang and regularly ran rings around Superman in legal battles. He even got to make fun of Superman, and was such a villain that he slept with his own stepmom and plotted to kill his dad. Take that, Jesse Eisenberg!
3) And he knows Hellboy too?!:
Hellboy is cool enough as it is, but add Bruce Campbell and it’s off the charts. Lobster Johnson may not be the most famous of Hellboy characters, but Bruce showed up to voice him in the Hellboy game Science Of Evil. Film director Guillermo del Toro has also stated that if he gets to make the third live action film, he’ll be introducing Lobster Johnson into the mix and wants – you guessed it! – Bruce Campbell to play him in that too!
4) He should have been Darkman!:
Back before Campbell’s friend and colleague Sam Raimi made the Spider-Man films, he made a superhero film called Darkman. At a time when Tim Burton’s Batman was making waves, Darkman was a fun, moody alternative. Sadly, it was decided by others that Bruce shouldn’t get the lead role, which ultimately went to Taken hardcase and former Jedi master Liam Neeson. However, getting the last laugh, Bruce appears on screen in the final scene – as the new secret identity of our hero. A win is a win!
5) His Name and The Screaming Brain:
Bruce’s films have made their way into comic books too. His self-parodying film My Name Is Bruce was released in comic format by Dark Horse, whilst Man With The Screaming Brain – a film written, produced, directed and starring Campbell – was also published by Dark Horse as a four-part series. Oh, and he wrote the comic script for it too! Hey, he’s no slacker.
6) Ash in the Marvel Universe:
It isn’t like he’s only a Dark Horse kind of guy though. Ash Williams, the character Bruce should be nominated for playing, maybe an Evil Dead guy but that doesn’t mean Ash is strictly a movies and TV guy. He spent some time in the Marvel Comics world too. Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness was a five-issue series where he got to pal around with Doctor Doom, Dazzler and slicing up Howard the Duck!
7) Last Fan Standing:
At Comic-Con, Bruce hosted the Last Fan Standing game show where fans of all genres got to test their trivial knowledge and people could let their geek flags fly proudly. The questions weren’t all that difficult, but BC’s usual quick banter and playful attitude made it entertaining to watch. Seeing him reel off questions about Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton, patronize contestants and joke about how cheap the production on the show is prove how serious he is about having fun!
8) Those Spidey voice-overs:
As an extension of being in the Spider-Man films, he also lent his voice talents to the games as a narrator, explaining how to use the controls and so on. That may not sound like much, but Bruce made them hilarious. Comments like “In real life it’s called assault and battery… in here it’s just good clean fun”, “What would Spider-Man be without his powers? Man. Is that what you came here to play? Man 3!?” and “Time to get into the… swing… of things! Ha! Uh… hey, look, I didn’t write this crap…” made these games playable.
9) Siiiiiide… kick!:
One of the best superhero films of all time was neither from DC or Marvel. It was Disney’s teen action-comedy Sky High. While having Wonder Woman Lynda Carter as Principal Powers was a treat, Bruce Campbell starring as the gym coach from hell was even better. His torturing of kids by dropping cars on them, followed by his dreaded sonic boom-creating yell of “SIIIIIIDE-KICK!”, could raise a laugh from anybody.
10) Ash vs The Legends:
In comics, Ash Williams didn’t just square off against the Marvel Zombies, he took on two true icons of modern horror – Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Being equal parts coward and braggart helped pull him through two encounters with these legendary figures.
