The Truth Behind The Easter Eggs In Evil Dead 2 And Nightmare On Elm Street

1 ... 2 ... Freddy's coming for you ... and not just within the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" universe. For observant (and dedicated) viewers, it seems that everyone's favorite dream demon may have a connection to those delightfully gruesome deadites from horror maestro Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead." 

Fans of both franchises may have noticed a certain someone's infamous glove appearing in that iconic shed scene in "Evil Dead 2." It's a "blink and you miss it" moment, but there is no doubt. When Ash, played by Bruce Campbell, enters the shed with Linda's head on hand, hanging above the door like some sort of sinister talisman is none other than Freddy Krueger's iconic murder glove. 

For many fans, the presence of Freddy's glove has hinted at a possible connection between the worlds of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Evil Dead," leading to much speculation about how Freddy and Ash could possibly be linked. A few years ago over at Screen Rant, they posited a potential theory that "a still living Freddy had been at the cabin at one point, and possibly used it as a murder location." This is an idea I can sort of get behind, though the shed is definitely a downgrade from Freddy's iconic boiler room. Perhaps the shed was his first hideout before he upgraded his abode to something more steamy and sinister? 

Still, there is another theory that is slightly more enticing. It speculates that Freddy is perhaps a deadite himself, brought to life after that fateful reading from the Necronomicon. If this were the case, he'd be a pretty powerful deadite. After all, the ones we are introduced to in "The Evil Dead" tend not to be the sharpest demons in the shed, and Freddy is definitely up there when it comes to malicious intelligence. I mean, he infiltrates your dreams, for gosh sakes. No deadite I've ever known would be capable of that (not that I've known many deadites, but still, Cheryl isn't exactly signing up for Mensa anytime soon). 

It's a good thing, then, that the folks over at Screen Rant took a moment to review their theory and come up with a new take. It turns out that the glove is nothing more than a fun Easter egg in a long line of Easter eggs traded back and forth between Raimi and Wes Craven throughout their careers. 

As it was pointed out, Craven also included a nod to "The Evil Dead" in the first "A Nightmare on Elm Street." During a pivotal scene in which Nancy attempts to stay awake for the entire night, she chooses to watch "The Evil Dead" on her bedroom television. Screen Rant notes that "the reason that Nancy is watching 'The Evil Dead' as she tries to stay awake is because the entirety of Raimi's movie takes place in one night. In order to survive the deadites, Ash must survive until dawn, meaning he cannot go to sleep either." This is how the two protagonists become unlikely companions in their separate quests to evade sleep and stay alive. It's a clever nod on Craven's part, but the inclusion of "The Evil Dead" in "Nightmare" also has its roots in a private series of jokes between the two directors. 

According to Bloody Disgusting, Craven included a "Jaws" poster in a specific scene in his second film, "The Hills Have Eyes." The poster is of a shark that may or may not be Bruce, and it looks like it's seen better days since it's hanging on the wall with a large chunk of the poster missing. It has been interpreted as a sort of slight to Steven Spielberg, "essentially saying that [Craven's] movie was much scarier than anything on display in Spielberg's hit money-maker." Raimi found this playful sort of visual banter interesting, and he decided to include his own reference to "The Hills Have Eyes" in his film, "The Evil Dead." This decision set off a chain of events that would continue throughout both directors' careers. 

It was Craven who next included footage from "The Evil Dead" in the first "Nightmare," which was followed up with Raimi's decision to include Freddy's glove in "Evil Dead II." Neither director had any intention of linking the two universes, but fans will be fans, and as soon as the glove showed up in that deadite-infested shed, the theories started spinning. In the end, the nods are nothing more than two fabulous directors showing a playful appreciation for each other's work, something that continued even after Craven's passing in 2015. "Ash vs. Evil Dead" fans can find Freddy's glove still collecting dust back at that notorious cabin, just waiting for the right person to pick it up and try it on.