Bruce Campbell Requires One Thing For His Marvel Raimi Cameos

Appearing in almost every Sam Raimi film, Bruce Campbell reveals his criteria for each Marvel character he plays, up to his cameo in Doctor Strange 2.

Bruce Campbell Requires One Thing For His Marvel Raimi Cameos

After appearing in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Bruce Campbell reveals his criteria for making cameos in Marvel films. Raimi and Campbell are frequent collaborators, with the actor appearing in nearly all of the director’s movies. Raimi arguably gave Campbell the role of his career in 1981’s The Evil Dead, spawning an entire horror franchise and the iconic character of Ash Williams. Since then, Campbell has appeared in a number of Raimi’s films, including all three Spider-Man movies, Darkman, and Oz the Great and Powerful.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness marks a return to the superhero genre for Raimi. His differing style of direction has been praised for shifting from the styles of similar projects. The movie features several Raimi signatures, including a cameo by Campbell. The actor appears briefly in the main film as a food vendor named Pizza Poppa who Doctor Strange spells to hit himself. Campbell then shows up again in the Doctor Strange 2 post-credits scene, where the spell finally comes to an end much to his character’s relief.

In a tell-all interview about his role with THR, Campbell spoke about his Doctor Strange 2 cameo as well as his other projects such as the new Evil Dead game. Specifically, the actor commented on his requirements cameos in Raimi’s movies, referring back to his time in the Spider-Man films. Read Campbell’s comments below:

You know, the only criteria I ever need is that the character has to be pivotal. In the first Spider-Man, I named Spider-Man. In the second one, I’m the only character to defeat Spider-Man by not letting him into the theater. And in Spider-Man 3, he comes to the maître d’ for help with his proposal to Mary Jane. How many superheroes come to mortals for help? Like, zero. So, I set a precedent. And if you do put me in there, it’ll change the movie forever. Sam is aware that I’ve made his movies iconic.
(Laughs.) The other criteria, honestly, is the only reason to be in these movies, and that is to harass the star. If you look at all the Spider-Man films, all I’m there for is to f**k with the lead guy. That’s it. I belittle him, make fun of him, confront him and harass him. Of course, he’s always victorious, but you have to create obstacles for your hero and make the journey harder. That’s my job.
And here, we can’t really deny that I took up about an extra 45 seconds of Strange’s time. And maybe I saved his life as a result of that. Those 45 seconds, maybe I saved someone else’s life, maybe I foiled a plot.

Though Campbell is likely joking a little about his characters’ importance, it is clear that he will not accept a role in one of Raimi’s films just for the sake of it. He’s correct that his characters ultimately play a pretty big role in the Spider-Man films. This is shown even in his Doctor Strange 2 cameo. Aside from providing some much-needed comic relief in the story, Campbell’s scenes are also a treat for those who love Evil Dead, as Strange’s spell on Pizza Poppa offers a fun callback to the possessed hand fight in that movie’s sequel.

Furthermore, with Raimi’s work on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness so heavily praised, it stands to reason he could be back to direct a Marvel movie again in the future. This could pave the way for another Bruce Campbell cameo in an MCU movie. Either way, audiences can catch the actor in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, currently in theaters.