Tag: Disney Plus

The upcoming Disney Plus series, Willow is a nostalgic return to the fantastical lands of Tir Asleen and Galadoorn and the characters who inhabit it. The series is a direct sequel to the 1988 film of the same name and set 20 years after the events of it saw the evil Queen Bavmorda defeated by a band of people that included Willow and The Greatest Swordsman that ever lived, Madmartigan. However, while Warwick Davis returned to the role of Willow Ufgood in the series, there’s no sign of Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan, who played such an integral role in the film. During the global press conference for the upcoming series, Willow writer and executive producer Jon Kasdan talked about how Madmartigan’s absence helped shape the series into its final form.

For Kasdan, the absence of the original film’s co-lead wasn’t a roadblock so much as the way to expand on his story by showing the impact it had on others, including his two children Kit and Airk, played by Ruby Cruz and Dempsey Bryk, respectively.

It was always sort of going to be, right at the core of the story we were, we were telling. And it really had to be… but because we were telling a story that had so many young characters, and they were all sort of searching for their identity, the search for Madmartigan, and the question of what had happened to him was right at the heart of the story we were telling. And we knew that it would be woven into this quest in a fundamental way, really, to see where he was and what had become of him, and what he’d given up. Particularly for Ruby’s character, Kit, and for Dempsey’s character, Airk, in order to do good.

Jon Kasdan

Both Kit and Airk have taken their father’s near life-long absence from their lives very differently and when your father is the legendary Madmartigan, the hole left by his absence is a big one. Indeed according to Kasdan, it’s something the young heroes will deal with for the entire season.

And that question sort of follows the whole season. And we always knew that we sort of wanted to pay it off in one way or another, and we had a lot of ideas about ways to pay it off and ways to leave it open.

Jon Kasdan

Though he’s not in the series, the tales of his deeds and adventures certainly play a large role thanks, in part, to the addition of a new character to the franchise. Amar Chada-Patel plays Thraxus Boorman, a warrior who shared an adventure or two with the Daikini Lady Lover and who Kasdan says was created out of need when Kilmer wasn’t able to be on set. And according to Kasdan, it provided an unexpected boost to the series.

And one thing that happened, because Val himself wasn’t able to come out to Wales and work with us, was that we were a- we added this texture of a friend of Madmartigan’s, who could give us some clues about his whereabouts. And… and deepened the mystery around what happened to him, in a way that only actually extended the story we were already telling. So it was very satisfying, and it sort of prevented… it provided an opportunity for us to add a whole new element that we didn’t expect to the show.

Jon Kasdan

Fans of Kilmer’s character shouldn’t despair at the star’s absence from the series, however, According to Kasdan, he and Davis are just as eager for his return as fans.

Madmartigan is still out there, I mean, I have had many conversations with everyone involved, and our feeling is, he is, he is out there to be found, should the day arrive. And I think Warwick and I would both love to see him pick up that sword again.

Jon Kasdan

Where is Madmartigan? What took him away from his family? Find out when Willow begins streaming November 30th on Disney Plus.

1988’s Willow was a dark fantasy adventure dreamt up by a young George Lucas in 1972 before he ever put pen to paper for Star Wars. In 1986, the project began to come together with director Ron Howard, writer Bob Dolman and Lucas developing the script. Somewhere along the way, likely due to Dolman’s comedic chops, Willow became a far funnier fantasy film than contemporaries such as Kull and Labyrinth. Though it wasn’t a critical success, Willow developed a cult following and a fanbase that clamored for a sequel for over 30 years. That sequel will soon debut on Disney Plus and according to one of its stars, the spirit of the original lives on in the streaming series.

During the global press conference for the upcoming streaming series, Warwick Davis, who reprises his role as Willow Ufgood, writer Jon Kasdan was able to embue Willow with the same sense of humor as the original.

It’s important that we took that kind of ethos from the film, the humor, because that’s what really set ‘Willow’ apart from the other fantasy offerings of the 80s, was that it could look at itself and laugh and not take itself seriously. But also, as well as being a great kind of fantasy writer and sci-fi writer, Jon is also a very good comic writer as well.

Warwick Davis

While the 1988 film certainly wasn’t a full-on slapstick comedy, it was filled with laughs, often at the expense of Willow’s struggles with magic. In an attempt to recapture that magic, Dolman returned to write two episodes of the upcoming streaming series. Unfortunately, another source of comedic relief, Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan, is mysteriously absent from the series, though his presence is certainly felt throughout. The series is certainly much more light-hearted in tone than what fans have come accustomed to seeing in recent fantasy series such as Game of Thrones and The Rings of Power while still finding a nice balance of action as fans will find out for themselves when it begins streaming on Disney Plus on November 30th.

2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t truly land with audiences or critics. More than that, it seems to have inspired Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s decision not to recast iconic roles. Having done so unsuccessfully with one of Harrison Ford’s most iconic roles, Kennedy refuses to do it again even as Ford’s last adventure as Indiana Jones prepares to hit theaters, choosing to create an Indy-adjacent streaming series for Disney Plus rather than misfire on another recast. However, not all the takeaways from Solo were negative; in fact, it turns out that some behind-the-scenes conversations during its production were the genesis of the Disney Plus streaming series Willow.

During the global press conference for the upcoming series, star Warwick Davis, who first starred as Willow Ufgood when he was 17 years old, shared his belief that despite many attempts to get a follow-up to the 1988 movie off the ground, it would never happen. “For years it’s been talked about, not by anyone official but by the fans“, said Davis. “They’ve constantly pestered me“, he continued, “saying ‘when are we going to see a sequel to that movie?’ And it’s a question that I could never answer.”

A question, Davis says, he wasn’t able to answer until fate intervened. A Willow sequel seemed impossible for the star “Until I met Jon Kasdan“, said Davis of the writer and executive producer of the Willow streaming series. It turns out Kasdan, the son of frequent Lucasfilm collaborator Lawrence Kasdan who also worked on the script for Solo. As it turned out, Kasdan the younger was a fan of the Willow film as a kid and, according to Davis, joined him in feeling the time was right for a sequel series.

We decided that there should indeed be more ‘Willow,’ and so that was the catalyst for this project to happen, really, and it happened very quickly in Hollywood terms. You know, it wasn’t years and years of development, before I knew it I was sat on set, in Wales for the very first day of filming. Once again looking just like ‘Willow, but a slightly older, more mature, better-looking version. Sexier.

Warwick Davis

Of course, it didn’t hurt the chances of a follow-up happening that the conversations about it happened on the set of Solo, where Ron Howard, who directed Willow, was helming the Star Wars origin story. According to Kasdan, the three of them formed a triumvirate that believed there was more story to tell.

There was the impulse certainly between Ron and Warwick and myself to continue this story, and return to this world. And I came at it as a fan, and they came at it both as the creators, and they found a champion in me, and I kept fighting and sort of hoping that we’d get a chance to go back here, and my ace was always that Warwick would be back and that he would look so attractive and America would – and the world – would really fall on their knees. I think everyone got that, and everyone appreciated that, that there was something really special in the opportunity to bring this character back to the screen.

Jon Kasdan

Fans of the original film will have a chance to decide for themselves how necessary the sequel series is when Willow streams on Disney Plus beginning November 30th.