Army of Darkness Forever Reveals the Final Fate of the Necronomicon

Summary

• The Necronomicon, the Book of the Dead, is nearly destroyed in the dark future of Army of Darkness, leaving only a few pages remaining.
• The Army of Darknes Forever comic continuation explores the consequences of the alternate ending of the movie, where Ash wakes up in a post-apocalyptic future.
• The fate of the Necronomicon is bittersweet for horror fans, as it is a significant and iconic artifact in the Evil Dead franchise, and beyond.

Warning: Spoilers for Army of Darkness Forever #3!

An iconic staple of the Evil Dead franchise, vital to Army of Darkness, is destined to one final tragic fate. The Necronomicon, the famous Book of the Dead, has been the source of all the wickedness and misfortune that Ash has suffered since the beginning of the series. Further, its presence was vital to canonizing Jason Voorhees as a Deadite, highlighting how its evil shrouded other franchises as well.

Army of Darkness Forever #3 – by Tony Fleecs, Justin Greenwood, Brad Simpson, Troy Peteri, Joe Rybandt, and Marshall Hoyt – reveals that in the dark future of the series, the Necronomicon itself is as good as dead.

The comic examines the movie’s alternate ending where, instead of returning to the present, performing the spell incorrectly forced Ash into the distant future of 2093. There, the Necronomicon still exists, but is clearly an inferior shell of its former glory. Even considering all the chaos that the book has caused, across the franchise and the genre as a whole, it’s a bittersweet sight for horror fans.

The Necronomicon Is Reduced To Pages In Army Of Darkness’ Dark Alternate Future

The theatrical ending of Army of Darkness featured Ash returning to his timeline, saving the day and kissing the girl for a happy ending. The original ending, though, alludes to something much darker, where a potion miscalculation makes Ash sleep longer than he should’ve, waking up in London’s post-apocalyptic future. Both endings share a space to exist alongside each other in this comic book sequel. Eventually, Ash is presented with a miniature, spider-esque robot, who introduces him to a hologram projection of the Wise Man wizard from the movie, the same one who told Ash to perform the spell to return home.

Despite using more drops in his potion than the seven that the Wise Man recommended him, Ash blames the elder for him oversleeping into the wrong year. The Wise Man suggests a new quest using the Necronomicon is the only way to return home. Ash shuts down any desire to embark on a journey and threatens to rip the book to shreds. Alas, The Wise Man elaborates to Ash that the world beat him to destroying the book. He then unveils what’s left of the Necronomicon. The book and its binding are gone, as only a few pages remain. Ash’s journey is to find the remaining pages.

A Bittersweet Fate For Horror’s Most Terrifying Tome

From a fan perspective, it’s bittersweet to see such an iconic horror artifact be nearly destroyed. Even though the actual pages can’t be destroyed themselves, the iconography comes from that image of the Necronomicon’s demonic front cover. That is an image that is instantly recognizable by fans and admired in the same sense, but now in the universe of Evil Dead, it’s gone forever. Speaking of, from an in-universe perspective, Ash is going to have a harder time getting back to the present with only a handful of pages rather than the full book. Future issues of Army of Darkness Forever will have to explore how he ventures out.

Army of Darkness Forever #3 is on sale now from Dynamite.