Bruce Campbell reflects on his “pivotal” role in pop culture, ongoing Bruce-O-Rama tour
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on April 20, 2023
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Bruce Campbell is a cult movie icon, having appeared in all of Sam Raimi‘s films, including the classic Evil Dead and Army of Darkness movies, as well as Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and more recently his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
2002’s Spider-Man had him playing an underground wrestling promoter who dubs Tobey Maguire‘s Peter Parker “The Amazing Spider-Man” instead of “The Human Spider.” Although Liam Neeson played the hero Darkman in Raimi’s 1990 movie of the same name, it ends with a shot of Campbell, portraying the character in disguise.
In Multiverse of Madness, he was known as Pizza Poppa, a guy who sold ball-shaped pizza in another dimension who tangles unsuccessfully with the Master of the Mystic Arts before capping the film with another cameo. Campbell jokes about the impact he’s had on pop culture. “I named Spider-Man. I put an end to Doctor Strange. I am Darkman, so I don’t know if people quite understand the iconic nature of my career that I really have,” he deadpans.
“Because if I wasn’t in the billion-dollar franchise, it would be called The Human Spider, unless I had renamed it thinking it was a s***** name. So people think, ‘Oh yeah, a little tiny cameo. Funny cameo.’ Pivotal. Pivotal is the word I always come back to.”
Bruce is currently in the midst of his Bruce-O-Rama Tour, in which he interacts with fans, screens some of his movies and hosts “Last Fan Standing,” what he calls “a game show for geeks.” He adds, “There’s no geography, there’s no history. You know, it’s about Boba Fett and crap like that … it’s a lot of fun.”
The tour runs through April 30.
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