‘Willow’ Is the Great Disney+ Series You Had No Idea You Wanted: TV Review (2024)

In an episode of ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” youngest son Adam (Sean Giambrone, playing the creator of the autobiographical sitcom) suffers a grievous lapse in judgment. It’s Mother’s Day, but rather than spend time with his devoted, if meddling mother, he wants to see “Willow,” the potentially life-changing new George Lucas project. When the conflict comes to a head, Adam tells his mother he hates her, then sprints to the cineplex for what he’s convinced will be the next great franchise from an unparalleled cinematic genius. He emerges two hours later in the grips of despair having realized that “Willow” was barely worth watching, much less worth committing emotional matricide for.

In fairness to the 1988 film, “Willow” wasn’t an abject failure, at least not in the way we currently think of cinematic missteps. With a box office haul four times its budget and a passionate cult following, however small, “Willow” would have been for many producer-director teams the auspicious beginning to a long career. But it was a letdown coming from Lucas, who wrote the screen story as he retained the halo earned from the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises. Then there’s director Ron Howard, for whom “Willow” is a weird, disappointing outlier in a hot streak including the likes of “Cocoon,” “Parenthood” and “Backdraft.”

The general indifference to “Willow” makes it an unlikely choice for a Disney+ series adaptation, but also a perfect one. Fandoms are fiercely protective of their respective mythologies, but in the case of “Willow,” there are too few fans of the film to revolt against a new creative direction. Series creator Jonathan Kasdan, who previously reworked Lucas lore in his screenplay for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” got Lucas’ general blessing to adapt a series from his characters. Kasdan clearly loves the source material, but also relishes building a new world atop Lucas’ landscape.

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That perfect balance of reverence and irreverence is what immediately catapults “Willow” to the upper echelon of Disney+ series, and that alchemy could have been accomplished only with such a dust-covered story as “Willow.” For as thrilling as Disney’s Marvel and “Star Wars” series can be, their interconnectedness (to each other and their broader cinematic universes) can be creatively limiting and draining for a viewer. Meanwhile, “Willow” doesn’t want a deeper commitment, it’s just here to delight, and does it so effectively as to totally refurbish a previously junk-binned franchise.

Warwick Davis retains his top billing as the title character, the heroic sorcerer who rescued a baby marked for death by an evil queen who fears the baby will one day depose her. But there’s plenty of time for Willow Ufgood, who, when the pilot begins, is off-screen living his best magical life. Kasdan’s first task is briskly to run through a summary of the film, then establish the new characters who will soon collaborate with legacy characters like Willow. Twins Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Airk (Dempsey Bryk) are set to succeed their mother Sorsha (Joanne Whalley, reprising her role from the film) as the ruler of Tir Asleen, or at least follow in her royal footsteps.

The latter option is the only one available to Kit, who’s being forced to marry Graydon (Tony Revolori) to bring an uneasy detente between two warring kingdoms. For her part, Kit is more focused on keeping her more-than-friendship with Jade (Erin Kellyman) going after Jade decides to train to become a knight. Meanwhile, the rakish Airk is making time with Dove (Ellie Bamber), a chambermaid ensnared in a messy, upstairs-downstairs love affair, as television chambermaids so often are. Before Kit and Graydon can officially bring their kingdoms together, Airk is kidnapped, and Kit is sent on a mission to find him and return him home. Graydon and Jade join the search party, as does Dove, despite lacking the basic skills required for a dangerous quest. But first, they must find and recruit Willow, who has specialized knowledge in the area.

A couple more travelers join the search for Airk, including Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel) as a wise-cracking, sword-happy mercenary who agrees to join the quest. If that sounds remarkably like the contours of a beloved character from the film, it’s because Boorman is clearly designed as a stand-in for Madmartigan (Val Kilmer). Madmartigan still exists in the world of “Willow” and factors into the story, but without Kilmer, whose participation was precluded by his battle with throat cancer. That makes it all the more impressive that Chadha-Patel works so well as a character, never managing to come across as a pale imitation of Madmartigan.

The performances are the chief strengths of “Willow,” which certainly wallows in genre conventions (as the unkindest critics of the film pointed out) and relies on a forceful execution to elevate it beyond fantasy-by-numbers. Davis is naturally terrific in a role he’s longed to revisit since the film, as is Whalley, who slips easily back into Sorsha’s mannerisms and opaque motives. But “Willow” wouldn’t be what it is without Cruz, Kellyman and Bamber, a trio of young actors who form a sturdier foundation for the show than any of the mythology ungirding it. Kellyman is particularly mesmerizing, as much the livest wire here as she was in “Captain America and the Winter Soldier.”

“Willow” amplifies romance from its earliest moments, and is so focused on rapturous young love that the first half of the pilot feels almost like the salacious teen storytelling of “Riverdale’s” Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, or like “Gossip Girl” with magic and swordplay. While the show later leans into its genre trappings, Kasdan keeps the romantic entanglements going like spinning plates constantly threatening to shatter as love connections become love triangles and trapezoids. The most noteworthy of those relationships is between Kit and Jade, who are being touted as Disney’s first proper queer love story. And it’s written beautifully, and in such a way that transcends gender and explores how hard it is to figure yourself and someone else out simultaneously.

The first three episodes are briskly plotted and generous with action setpieces, but something doesn’t work about the early character moments, which individually can feel too compressed and rushed. But all the table setting pays handsomely in the fourth episode, a bottle episode inasmuch as a massive haunted mansion can be considered a bottle. The episode is where the show truly jells, successfully weaving together its romantic instincts with the scariest elements of the world. It evokes “Evil Dead” as told by J.R.R. Tolkien, and is an absolute blast. By the time the fifth episode starts with a chase sequence set to Swedish punk band Alle! Alle!, whatever resistance remains to this genre gem melts away. “Willow” is the real deal, almost good enough to warrant blowing off Mother’s Day.

‘Willow’ Is the Great Disney+ Series You Had No Idea You Wanted: TV Review (2024)

FAQs

Why was Willow removed from Disney+? ›

Disney canceled the television series after only one eight-episode season, and then it pulled the show off of Disney+ entirely for cost-cutting measures.

Is the Willow remake canceled? ›

'Willow' Canceled After One Season On Disney+

The eight-episode first season premiered November 30, 2022 and concluded on January 11, 2023. As Deadline noted, while the series won't continue in its current form, Willow remains an important IP in the Lucasfilm library, so it may be revisited in the future.

Was the Willow show good? ›

Critics Reviews

The Disney+ Willow series was a breath of fresh air, harkening back to a bygone era of onscreen epic fantasy more focused on being delightful than profound. Content collapsed.

What happens in the Willow TV series? ›

It has been more than twenty years since Queen Bavmorda was defeated. Six unlikely heroes set off on a dangerous quest to places far beyond their home, where they must face their inner demons and come together to save their world from the forces of evil: the Gales, who work for the Crone and are allies of the Wyrm.

Why did Willow flop? ›

Everything, it turns out. Or very nearly everything. Willow got off to a terrible start right out the gates. The show's tone felt directed at a teenage demographic that doesn't exist—but fits squarely outside the demographic most interested in this kind of fantasy: Kids and their parents.

Why did Disney change the name of Zootopia? ›

This was due to Disney being unable to trademark the name "Zootopia" in these territories for various legal reasons, including Danish Givskud Zoo registering the name Zootopia in 2014. In Germany, the film was titled Zoomania due to a children's book by German author Kay Fischer titled Zootropolis released in 2010.

Will there be a season 2 of Willow on Disney Plus? ›

More Stories By Nellie. EXCLUSIVE: There will be no second season of Willow, Disney+'s live-action original series based on the 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard.

How many seasons will Willow have? ›

The “Willow” TV series is done after just one season at Disney+, Variety has confirmed. The news comes around two months after the high fantasy series aired its eighth and final episode, with the show having debuted in November 2022 and airing until January 2023.

How many episodes does Willow have? ›

Who is the villain in Willow? ›

Type of Villain

General Kael is the secondary antagonist of the 1988 fantasy film Willow and a posthumous antagonist in its Disney+ sequel television series of the same name.

Is the Willow series kid friendly? ›

Parents Need to Know

Like the original movie, the series is a rollicking, lively tale with lots of fantasy violence and romance. But it's a bit darker and more intense than the '80s film. There's frequent peril and lots of scary imagery, including characters called "bone reavers" who wear skulls as masks.

Why can't I watch Willow on Disney Plus? ›

Willow was removed from Disney+ earlier this year as part of a cost-cutting measure that saw dozens of shows exit the service, as well as Hulu, on May 26. Other popular shows that found themselves axed were The World According To Jeff Goldblum and Y: The Last Man.

Why is Willow leaving Disney Plus? ›

The move follows Disney CEO Bob Iger's mandate to cut content on its streaming platforms after losing more than a billion dollars on the platform. According to a report by Variety, Iger is targeting $3 billion in savings in 2023.

What happened to Willow's son and wife in Willow? ›

It's an exchange made even more impactful given the casting choice of Annabelle Davis, Warwick Davis' real-life daughter, as Mims to his Willow Ufgood. In one heartbreaking exchange, we learn that Willow's wife is dead and his son ran away, leaving only father and daughter.

What is the monster at the end of Willow? ›

There's an army of darkness arrayed to the horizon, including the two-headed monster from the film (the Eborsisk, named after Siskel and Ebert).

Why is Disney removing shows? ›

According to sources, the takedowns were a result of a library title review. There have been several content purges at Disney+ over the last year amid cost-cutting, most notably the removal of a slew of original series last May.

Will there be another season of Willow on Disney Plus? ›

More Stories By Nellie

EXCLUSIVE: There will be no second season of Willow, Disney+'s live-action original series based on the 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard.

Where can I watch Willow the series now? ›

Watch Willow | Disney+ When young Willow Ufgood finds an abandoned baby girl, he learns she is destined to end the reign of the wicked Queen Bavmorda.

Where can I get Willow TV? ›

You may purchase a monthly subscription on www.willow.tv/subscribe or make an iTunes monthly subscription purchase on your Apple TV. If you choose the option to purchase via iTunes, enter your Willow account email id (e.g. johnwalter@gmail.com ) after giving your iTunes account password.

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