Star Wars: Jonathan Kasdan Wants Lucasfilm To Take Marvel's "Special Presentation" Approach

By Jamie Jirak

Jonathan Kasdan has been around Lucasfilm his entire life. Not only did his father, Lawrence Kasdan, write Return of the Jedi when he was a kid, but Jonathan ended up co-writing Solo: A Star Wars Story with his dad in 2018. Now, Kasdan is working on another Lucasfilm project: Willow. The Disney+ series is a follow-up to the 1988 film of the same name, and it was one of the younger Kasdan's favorite films growing up. The writer/producer recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about Willow, and revealed he wants Lucasfilm to take the same "Special Presentation" appraoch Marvel has taken this year with Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. 

"I don't honestly know," Kasdan said when asked about continuing the world of Solo. "I'm always afraid to ask Kathy [Kennedy] because she can see right through me. She can see my desire to tell more stories there ... But in recent months, I have been intrigued by the wonderful Werewolf by Night as a potential form of storytelling ... So I would love to see Lucasfilm embrace a short-form novella version for telling some of their stories. That certainly seems like a place where future stories about those characters could live."

How Did the Willow Series Come together?

Willow sees the return of Warwick Davis in the titular role, marking his first time playing the part since the original film was released in 1988. Speaking with ComicBook.com's own Brandon Davis, Kasdan emphasized the commitment to the lore of Willow's world, discussing the process of bringing back Warwick Davis while exploring some major new territory:

"It's a whole new thing. From the moment I got involved in Star Wars with George [Lucas], with Kathy [Kennedy], with my dad, I saw an opportunity here with Willow to bring this story back. I knew that Warrick was eager to do it, to play it again, and then when Ron came and worked on Solo with us, he was just as eager, too, and we let the momentum of that allow us to continue this story that the three of us really loved -- that I loved as a fan and they loved as a working experience. I just thought, 'How do I do this, and how do I give it the same fidelity that we tried to give to Solo?' There are deep cuts in the Willow show, and references to the tabletop game and references to the novelization. We went deep, and hopefully the true fan will appreciate it."  

Will Willow Get a Season 2?

Currently, the series is up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 83% critics score, and some of us are already hoping for a second season. During the Willow premiere, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with producer Roopesh Parekh who teased the possibility of a Season 2. "I think that we complete this story, but we absolutely leave a lot of angles open for the future," Parekh replied when asked if the eighth episode will end on a cliffhanger.

Would you like to see Lucasfilm take the "Special Presentation" approach with Star Wars or any other properties? Tell us in the comments! 

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