Almost exactly one year ago, we reported on Ron Howard floating the idea for a Willow sequel. At the time it seemed like a pipe dream, but now, it looks like a sequel to the ’80s fantasy classic could actually happen after all.
With Disney’s upcoming streaming service debuting this fall, the Mouse House is going to need new content to entice subscribers. And it doesn’t get much more enticing than a long-awaited sequel to a Lucasfilm property from the ’80s. A Willow sequel TV series is apparently being looked at by Disney+, with discussions taking place between original director Howard, screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan (who worked on Solo with Howard and is the son of longtime George Lucas collaborator Lawrence Kasdan), and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. Here’s what Howard had to say when he spoke with MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast last week, according to Bloody Disgusting:
“There are some really serious discussions going on with Jon Kasdan, who was one of the writers of Solo, who kept hounding me about Willow the whole time we were shooting and also hounding Kathy Kennedy. We’re in discussions about developing a Willow television show for the Disney+. And I think it’d be a great way to go. In fact, George [Lucas] always talked about the possibility of a Willow series, and it’d be great and more intimate, and built around that character and some of the others.”
With the series being built around “that character,” that would suggest a return from titular star Warwick Davis. Howard confirmed in the interview that this is indeed the plan, noting that Davis, 49, would portray a “more mature Willow.” Davis, who also had a role in Solo, is certainly game for the idea, and in September he stated that he had spoken with Howard, Kasdan, Kennedy, and Lucas about it during the production of Solo, noting that returning as the character would be “brilliant fun.”
The Willow sequel series isn’t a lock just yet, but it certainly seems like all of the important parties are very interested in making it happen — maybe all they need is one spell from an unassuming sorcerer to give them that extra push to make it happen.
