Bruce Campbell has always been associated with being a tongue-in-cheek horror icon thanks to his roles in The Evil Dead franchise, and movies such as Bubba Ho-Tep and the 2021 movie Black Friday. However, he has starred in some big projects outside the genre, one of them being the popular crime series Burn Notice. While recently speaking to ComicBook, Campbell revealed that he really wants to bring that series back to screens after more than a decade.
Burn Notice is an action spy drama that debuted in 2007, and stars Jeffrey Donovan as former spy Michael Westen, who is fired from his agency and “burned” out of normal life, with his assets frozen and constant surveillance on him. Taking a role as a Private Investigator for hire while stuck in Miami, Westen attempts to discover why he was cut off and by whom. In the series, Campbell played Sam Axe, a former Navy SEAL and best friend of Westen, who aids him with his cases.
With several other shows from the late 2000s making a comeback recently, Campbell thinks it is definitely time for Westen and Axe to reunite again for another round of crime-solving. He said:
“I want to bring back Burn Notice,” Campbell told
ComicBook
. “It’s time. There’s a bunch of perps in the world — international perps that are scumbags all around the world that still have to be dealt with. None of our cast is dead, either in real life of their characters. So you do a two-hour movie. I’m trying to lobby for these. They did it with Monk — it came back with a little two-hour movie. People want a little taste of it. Get ready for a taste of Burn Notice.”
Burn Notice Rivaled Ash vs. Evil Dead as Bruce Campbell’s Most Popular Show
Burn Notice was a ratings winner throughout its seven seasons, peaking in viewership with the Season 7 finale in 2013. As far as audiences were concerned, the series was equal to Campbell’s subsequent TV sequel series to The Evil Dead, Ash vs Evil Dead, with both shows holding a 95% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter.
When it comes to which of Campbell’s shows would have the biggest reception should it return, well, that is a tough one to call. On one hand, Burn Notice delivered a constantly strong performance in terms of viewer numbers and came to a definite conclusion with its final episode. On the other, we have an Evil Dead series that – just like Sam Raimi’s original movie trilogy – ended right at the moment people wanted to see more of where it was headed.
For now, there are no plans for either show to return to screens, although while Campbell has ruled himself out of appearing as a live-action Ash Williams again, it seems like he is really trying to manifest a revival of some kind for Burn Notice. Having already starred in a spin-off prequel TV movie, The Fall of Sam Axe, in 2011, who knows if the actor’s calls for a new movie sequel will be heard?
Burn Notice
can currently be streamed on Hulu.