Jon Kasdan says reports of the show’s death are vastly exaggerated
Following a Deadline report that Disney Plus had cancelled Willow, the TV series based on George Lucas’ 1988 fantasy adventure, show producer Jon Kasdan has tweeted a correction. “Neither I nor the folks at Lucasfilm would have characterized it that way.”
According to Kasdan, Willow isn’t dead, he’s just sleeping.
Kasdan’s thread continues for two more tweet alsonoting the general slowdown in production in the entertainment industry, but especially streaming, and the logistics of scheduling around your cast commitments.
“The truth is less dazzling [than cancellation]”, he writes, “but here it is: last week it was decided to release our main cast for other series that may arise for them in the coming year. With all the TV and movies in production around the world, it feels unfair to limit an actor’s availability without knowing clearly when you’ll need them again.”
According to Kasdan, Season 2 of Willow is planned, if not fully written, considerably, and some characters with small roles in the first season, such as Annabelle Davis’ Mims, will have much bigger roles in the new season. But since their original contracts didn’t include much work for Season 2, they’re now busy with other projects.
“Due to forces far greater and more complex than I would ever claim to fully understand,” says Kasdan, “streaming show production is slowing across the industry, and Willow will not resume filming for the next 12 months. true: with the enthusiastic and unwavering support of Lucasfilm and Disney, we have developed and written what we hope is a mind-meltingly fun, richer, darker and better VOLUME II that builds on the characters and story of our first eight chapters ( The Wyrm survives!).”
The Wyrm is the shadowy evil force worshiped by the Crone, the ultimate adversary of Willow‘s first season. Although the Wyrm did not appear directly in it Willow‘s first season, Kasdan clearly had a good idea about it in November last year.
“[The Crone is] the emissary of something much bigger and darker and more powerful […] I loved the idea that to anyone [the Wyrm] is, we are ants hardly playing on the cement, and all he has to do is reach out and crush us,” Kasdan told Polygon during the Willow press tour.
“[The Crone is] the spokesperson for that voice and ends up being really representative of me, funnily enough, more of a worldview and a philosophical outlook, rather than her being an outright villain,” Kasdan added. “There is nihilism at the core of the Crone that I really wanted to explore. And I think even after her story is over, the influence of that philosophical point of view will have a lasting impact on our characters.”
In the Twitter thread, Kasdan continued to talk about the themes of Season 2 – which include courage, desire, acceptance, comedy and beauty in the darkest of places, “the enemies we must inevitably face, both without and, often much more treacherous, within. But above all, it is about the unspeakable and lasting magic of friendship.”
So, is Willow cancelled? No, according to the executive producer. But do we know if it will continue? That’s blurrier.
“I have complete confidence that if the hunger for more Willow persists, Disney, Lucasfilm and this amazing cast will satisfy it,” Kasdan wrote in his thread.
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