Warwick Davis and the cast of Willow got their grand introduction today during the Disney+ Day festivities. You knew the company would be rolling out the red carpet for all of their new projects. Willow is something that fans have wanted more of for years, and they’re finally going to get their chance. Stephen Woolfenden is the current captain of this journey as director. His pedigree speaks for itself with work on Doctor Who and the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The series is poised to begin years after the events of the 1988 classic. There will be some new additions to the fantasy realm with a familiar face in Erin Kellyman from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Army of One standout Amer Chadha-Patel, Ellie Bamber from The Serpent, and Mare of Easttown‘s Ruby Cruz. So, there’s a whole lot of expansion going on for this project. A lot of people wondered why a Willow sequel wouldn’t take the form of a movie. But, Disney+ gives the creators more room to build out that world.
“You know what, it’s weird to be able to talk about it now! It’s something which I never thought I would see happen,” Warwick Davis told Radio Times in a conversation last year. “I’m hoping that we establish Willow as a very accomplished sorcerer now.” He added, “I hope he’s been practicing and we get to see him do some real magic, which would be fabulous. And also I’m hoping that we can reunite with Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley as well!”
Ron Howard directed the original version of Willow. He actually reunited with his star during the production of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Davis previously said that working together on that project paved the wave for this Willow revival. (Coincidentally, the producer of this series is Jonathan Kasdan, who wrote Solo.)
“Everything sort of aligned when we did the movie Solo,” Davis told the outlet. “The writer, Jon Kasdan, was a huge fan of Willow, he grew up watching it and it’s one of the things that inspired him to become a screenwriter, as well as his dad [Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back co-writer Lawrence Kasdan]. And then Ron Howard came in to direct and Jon mentioned to him that he was a big fan of Willow and that got them talking. And I was on Solo looking a little bit like Willow with my long hair as Weazel, and all these things came together. We took it to Disney+ and they were as excited as we were about it and greenlit the series.”
Are you excited about Willow coming to Disney+? Let us know down in the comments!
