Willow Producer Addresses Possibility of Season 2 (Exclusive)
The first two episodes of Willow are now streaming on Disney+, and the series is expected to have eight episodes that will drop each week until January 11th. The new show 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. Currently, the series is up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% 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. Parekh has served as a producer on many projects, including His Dark Materials, but Willow marks his first time working with Lucasfilm. During the chat, we asked him about joining forces with the major studio.
"Oh my God. When I got the phone call, I thought it was a prank. No, it's been so wonderful. I think Lucasfilm, the heart of everything they do is storytelling, innovation, and technological advancement. And when this script landed, this was all of those things in one. And Willow, I think always stood out for me as a young boy watching it. It was always so different from Star Wars or Indiana Jones. I love to pull for those, of course. There was just something great about this unlikely hero stumbling, falling, getting himself back up, and learning magic and sorcery and it just makes it fun."
He continued, "So when I got the call about it, I was like, 'Is Warwick coming back?' And they were like, 'Yeah' he absolutely is. It was like, 'This is going to be amazing.' And then I think for Jon Kasdan, who's just a phenomenal writer and a fantastic showrunner, who 35 years ago almost, watched it here in this theater. That was when he first fell in love with it ... This is us coming back home in many ways. And for Jon, it's a full circle. But I think that he had such a passion and infectious enthusiasm for this project. It just spread across the cast and crew when we were making it."
How Did the Willow Series Come together?
Speaking with ComicBook.com's own Brandon Davis, writer Jon 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."
The first two episodes of Willow are now streaming on Disney+.