The other big reveal from day one of Star Wars Celebration has nothing to do with Star Wars. It’s the teaser forWillow, a sequel series to the 1988 film of the same name. Back then, George Lucas hopedWillowwould be as big asE.T.—it wasn’t. But over the years,Willowhas become a genuine cult classic; there’s a running gag inReservation Dogsabout one of the characters being named Elora Danan, after the infant princess inWillow. Now, with the Disney+ machine hungry for new things, Ron Howard, director of the original film, and writer/producers Jonathan Kasdan and Wendy Mericle have teamed up to bringWillowto the small screen.
I am a fan ofWillow, it was one of those movies that was just constantly on when I was growing up, but this teaser isn’t inspiring much more than mild curiosity. It LOOKS beautiful, certainly, and it’s cool to see Warwick Davis and Joanne Whalley back as the sorcerer Willow Ufgood the badass warrior Sorsha, respectively, but…there’s no Madmartigan. As far as we know, Val Kilmer isn’t returning forWillow. And I get it, he’s been ill, it left a stamp, he and Whalley are divorced now so maybe that’s awkward, but like. God. Joanne Whalley and Val Kilmer inWilloware SO HOT. Looking back, I realize a huge part of my enjoyment ofWillowwas the sexual tension between Sorsha and Madmartigan. I didn’t know what it was at the time, I just knew I REALLY liked it whenever they were on screen together. (Ditto for Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer inLadyhawke, which was my introduction to cinematic PINING.)
What’s the value ofWillow没有瓦尔基尔默吗?少角书呆子可能的t care, and there will undoubtedly be a perfectly logical explanation for why he’s absent from these proceedings set twenty years after the events of the film, but I don’t know if it’s enough to hook me. Like I can just rewatchWillow(1988) and have the experience I’m looking for fromWillow(it’s streaming on Disney+). I’ll probably get around to watching the newWilloweventually, but right now, it’s not looking like a priority.
