Sam Raimi has established himself as one of the best auteurs in the superhero movie genre, with several hits such as the Spider-Man trilogy, Darkman, and recently Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but what if he took on Batman? More importantly, who would Bruce Campbell play?
Campbell has been a fixture of Raimi’s films since his first outing in The Evil Dead and appeared most recently as Pizza Poppa in Multiverse of Madness. The chin of destiny is a bona fide B-movie legend, and perhaps quite the underrated actor. If Raimi ever shifted sides to DC, fans know exactly what role he should get his best friend into.
There’s one pick that absolutely no one could dispute, and it feels like utterly perfect casting. Bruce Campbell is none other than Basil Karlo/Clayface. A failed stage actor who got terrible reviews for hamming it up too much, how is this not a perfect fit?
Pizza Poppa sold his pizza balls, so the next step up is surely Condiment King. A fan favorite bizarre villain from the DC universe, he made his debut in the LEGO Batman Movie as one of the many zany goons. Campbell shooting hot sauce on Batman might just be the thing to get this hypothetical film to legendary status.
Better yet, we go full-on crossover. Get Campbell and Liam Neeson back as Darkman, and teleport Ash Williams in from Army of Darkness. Give Raimi full creative control. Watch the box office implode. Warner Bros. holds all the rights, it’s time to make it happen.
King Tut deserves a dark and gritty reboot after Batman ’66, and what better man to do it than Campbell? The man would nail the role and give it a real Heath Ledger as The Joker edge.
Unfortunately, we can only dream at this stage. Considering the success Matt Reeves is having with The Batman universe, we may never get to see Bruce Campbell as Clayface. A tear was shed for the losers we are.