Maintaining the fruitful working relationship they first established with Xena: Warrior Princess, according to The Hollywood Reporter Lucy Lawless is set to re-team with director/producer duo Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert for their upcoming Evil Dead TV series Ash Vs. Evil Dead. This particular bit of casting will mark Lawless’ return to Starz, where she starred in the various incarnations of Spartacus, also executive produced by Raimi and Tapert. (Lawless and Tapert have been married since 1998, which might be part of why they like working together.) It will also be a reunion for Lawless and Ash Vs. Evil Dead star and lifelong Raimi/Tapert pal Bruce Campbell, who played the gloriously goateed Autolycus, the King of Thieves on Xena.
Lawless is set to play Ruby, “a mysterious figure who is myopic in her quest to hunt down the source of the recent evil outbreaks,” and who blames Ash for everything that has gone wrong. Their inevitable confrontation will result in a battle of the jawlines the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Robert Z’Dar wrestled Jay Leno in a nightmare we had once. Lawless joins a cast that also includes Girlfriends’ Jill Marie Jones, Ray Santiago, and Dana DeLorenzo. Ash Vs. Evil Dead is set to hit Starz sometime later this year.