Willow (TV series)


Willow is an American fantasy adventure television series based on and serving as a sequel to the 1988 film Willow. Warwick Davis, the original actor of Willow Ufgood in the 1988 film, reprised his role for the show. Val Kilmer was unable to reprise his role as Madmartigan, so his son Jack Kilmer voiced a cameo appearance of the character instead. Produced by Lucasfilm, the series was mostly filmed in Wales in April 2021, and premiered on the streaming service Disney+ on November 30, 2022.
In March 2023, the series was officially cancelled after only one season, though Jonathan Kasdan stated that the series was on hiatus. Kasdan noted that Season 2 had already been written and expressed his hopes that it would be made. Reporters noted that the cancellation occurred as media companies, including Disney+, were seeking to reduce costs for streaming content in order to increase profitability. The series was officially removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, amidst a Disney+ and Hulu content-removal purge, as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative under Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Premise

It has been more than twenty years since Queen Bavmorda was defeated. Six unlikely heroes set off on a dangerous quest to places far beyond their home, where they must face their inner demons and come together to save their world from the forces of evil: the Gales, who work for the Crone and are allies of the Wyrm.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood, a Nelwyn sorcerer who leads a party to rescue the twin brother of Princess Kit Tanthalos.
  • Ellie Bamber as Elora Danan, the future Empress of Tir Asleen, disguised as a kitchen maid named "Dove", who is in love with Airk and joins the quest to save him from the Gales. She was previously portrayed by Kate Greenfield, Ruth Greenfield, Rebecca Bearman, Kristen Lang, Isla Brentwood, Laura Hopkirk, and Gina Nelson as an infant in the film. Alayna Jacobs portrays a 5-year-old Elora. Bamber also portrays the Wyrm in "Children of the Wyrm".
  • Ruby Cruz as Princess Kit Tanthalos, the princess of Tir Asleen, who sets in motion a quest to rescue her twin brother Airk.
  • Erin Kellyman as Jade, a knight-in-training. She is the long-lost daughter of General Kael and Kit's love interest, who joins in the quest to save prince Airk. The relationship between Kit and Jade makes the series "the first true franchise on Disney Plus to really center a queer story", according to Polygon.
  • Tony Revolori as Prince Graydon, the prince of Galladoorn and member of the quest. Benjamin Revolori, Tony Revolori's younger brother, portrays a younger Prince Graydon.
  • Amar Chadha-Patel as Thraxus Boorman, an imprisoned, self-proclaimed treasure hunter and swordsman who claims to have a history with Madmartigan. He is offered freedom from the dungeon by queen Sorsha if he joins her daughter's quest.
  • Dempsey Bryk as Prince Airk, Kit's twin brother, who is kidnapped by the Gales

    Guest

  • Joanne Whalley as Queen Sorsha, an accomplished warrior, the ruler of Tir Asleen, the wife of Madmartigan and the daughter of the defeated Bavmorda. Sorsha has since become the mother of Kit and Airk, and the guardian of Elora.
  • Ralph Ineson as Commander Ballantine, Jade's adoptive father and loyal servant of queen Sorsha
  • Sifiso Mazibuko as Merrick, a soldier working under commander Ballantine
  • Kenny Knight as Lieutenant Keene, a soldier working under commander Ballantine
  • Derek Horsham as King Hastur, the king of Galladoorn and Graydon's father.
  • Talisa Garcia as Queen Arianna, the queen of Galladoorn and Graydon's mother.
  • Eileen Davies as Prunella, a senior servant of queen Sorsha who "Dove" answers to.
  • Simon Armstrong as Jørgen Kase, a warrior and trainer of Airk.
  • Joonas Suotamo as the Scourge, a hulking monstrosity who wears a cage over his head and is a member of the Gales
  • Daniel Naprous as the Doom, a hooded robed and masked member of the Gales
  • Vitas Le Bas as the Lich, a member of the Gales who infects commander Ballantine
  • Claudia Hughes as the Dag, a shape-shifting member of the Gales
  • Simeon Dyer as Karthy, a Nelwyn who is Willow's apprentice
  • Graham Hughes as Silas, a gruff Nelwyn warrior and Willow's friend
  • Annabelle Davis as Mims, Willow's daughter. She was previously portrayed by Dawn Downing in the film.
  • Sarah Bennett as Libby, Silas' wife.
  • Hannah Waddingham and Caoimhe Farren as Hubert and Anne, two forest women awaiting the arrival of Elora Danan. Executive producer and writer, Wendy Mericle, has said that the intent, at least for her, was for Hubert and Anne to be a married lesbian couple.
  • Jane Carr as the voice of the Crone, the leader of the Gales. Chus Lucas and Annabel Canavan serve as the stunt doubles of the Crone.
  • *Rosabell Laurenti Sellers portrays the Crone's form of Lili, a mysterious woman whom Airk meets in the Immemorial City As with the Crone's true form, Lucas and Canavan serve as the stunt doubles of Lili.
  • Mario Revolori as Dermot, Hastur and Ariana's son, and Graydon's older brother who died falling from a tree when Graydon was infected by an unknown illness.
  • Sallyanne Law as Mother, the deceased mother of Elora Danan, who was killed on Bavmorda's orders. Archive footage was used for flashbacks in this show where Law also recorded additional dialogue for "The Whispers of Nockmaar".
  • Mark Slaughter and Sam Witwer as General Kael, queen Bavmorda's chief lieutenant and right-hand man, who would later be revealed to be the first Bone Reaver, and Jade and Scorpia's father. Slaughter provides the physical stunt performance for general Kael mixed with archive footage while Witwer provides the uncredited voice of general Kael. He was previously portrayed by in the film by Pat Roach, who died in 2004.
  • Kevin Pollak as Rool, a brownie and former travel companion of Willow and Madmartigan. While Rool remained in his home, Franjean was mentioned to have headed south.
  • Amelia Vitale as Ganush, a Brownie who is the daughter of Rool through Franjean's ex-wife.
  • Adwoa Aboah as Scorpia, the leader of the Bone Reavers, General Kael's daughter, Boorman's ex-lover and Jade's long-lost older sister.
  • Charlie Rawes as Lori Toth, a Bone Reaver who is insecure about his first name.
  • Christian Slater as Allagash, a prisoner in Skellin who was a companion of Madmartigan and Boorman.
  • Tom Wilton as Sarris, a polite-speaking troll and chief administrator of the Dread Mines of Skellin whose tribe is in league with the Crone
  • Dee Tails as Falken, a gruff-speaking troll and Sarris' brother.
  • Danny Woodburn as the voice of Wiggleheim, a late Nelwyn sorcerer whose voice was heard in his tomb giving riddles to access his treasure
  • Julian Glover as Zeb, an old fisherman and former paladin of Cashmere who lives by the Shattered Sea
Val Kilmer and Jean Marsh appear as Madmartigan and Queen Bavmorda via archive footage from the Willow film. His son Jack Kilmer provided Madmartigan's voice in "Prisoners of Skellin" and "Children of the Wyrm".
Additional voices provided by Flula Borg, David W. Collins, Terri Douglas, Robin Atkin Downes, Katrina Kemp, Arif S. Kinchen, Risa Mei, Mark Povinelli, Moira Quirk, Helen Sadler, Julian Stone, Fred Tatasciore, Sam Witwer, Matthew Wood, Danny Woodburn, and Shelby Young.

Episodes

Production

Development

Discussions about a continuation of Willow began as early as 2005 when George Lucas commented at Celebration III about Lucasfilm going back to television, with Warwick Davis reiterating his interest in a sequel film in returning in multiple interviews. During a May 2019 interview with an MTV podcast, Ron Howard, director of the 1988 film, revealed he had been approached by Jonathan Kasdan about rebooting the film as a television series at Disney+.
In October 2020, the series was greenlit, with Jon M. Chu directing the pilot episode and Davis reprising his titular role. Chu would announce that he had to step away from directing duties due to a production delay and personal reasons in January 2021. Later that month, Jonathan Entwistle was hired to replace Chu as director of the pilot, and as executive producer. However, due to production delays as a result of a recasting, Entwistle also exited the series, with Stephen Woolfenden coming in to direct the first two episodes of the series.
In March 2023, Disney+ canceled the series after only one season. Kasdan stated the cast had been released from their contracts due to the shifts going on at Disney but that there is hope that the series could still pick up at some point in the future. As part of cuts being made at Disney, the show was one of many removed from Disney+ streaming service in May 2023.

Casting

In November 2020, Erin Kellyman, Cailee Spaeny and Ellie Bamber entered negotiations to join the cast. In January 2021, Tony Revolori would enter negotiations to join the cast, which was now confirmed to include Kellyman, Spaeny and Bamber. Revolori would be confirmed to join the cast in March, along with the recasting of Spaeny with Ruby Cruz. Amar Chadha-Patel would join the next month. By November 2021, Ralph Ineson was added to the cast. In April 2022, Talisa García and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers were cast, with Garcia starring as Revolori's character's mother, marking the first time a transgender actor has appeared in a Lucasfilm production. In May 2022, Joanne Whalley appeared at the Lucasfilm panel at Star Wars Celebration, revealing that she would be reprising her role as Sorsha from the original film. At the D23 Expo in September, Kevin Pollak was revealed to be reprising his role from the film, with Christian Slater also being announced as part of the cast.
Val Kilmer was unable to participate in filming to reprise his role as Madmartigan due to his recovery from throat cancer and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but Davis and Kasdan stated in May 2022 that his character would still be involved "in a big way". Although he had lost full use of his vocal cords because of his throat cancer, Kilmer still initially recorded Madmartigan's lines. This was then used as a guide track for his son Jack, who duplicated his father's voice in the same way that he did in their 2021 documentary film Val.