Posted in: Disney+, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, Jack Kilmer, Jonathan Kasdan, Madmartigan, val kilmer, willow

Willow: How [SPOILER] Returned in Episode 6 "Prisoners of Skellin"

There's a lot to unpack as arguably the biggest episode of Willow dropped on Disney+. IThe sixth episode, "Prisoners of Skellin," dropped a major bombshell in regards to Ruby Cruz's Princess Kit Tanthalos, who's among the heroes trying to save her twin brother Prince Airk (Dempsey Bryk). Joining her on the quest are Ellora (Ellie Bamber), Jade (Erin Kellyman), Prince Graydon (Tony Revolori), Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel), and Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis). The major plotline to follow up the events of the 1988 Ron Howard film of the same name is realizing Ellora's destiny as Willow tries to train her in the ways of magic. The following contains major spoilers.

The 400-lb gorilla in the room was the whereabouts of Madmartigan, played by Val Kilmer in the original film. Joanne Whalley reprised her role as Sorsha, who helps set them off on their quest to her reluctance with some of the participants, especially Ufgood, with who we discover the Queen had a falling out over Ellora. The episode throws a curveball early on as a mysterious figure, played by Christian Slater, poses as Madmartigan before Willow already exposes him before his reveal as Allagash, one of his associates. Later, Kit stumbles upon Madmartigan's sword as her father's voice calls out to her. What comes out is indeed Kilmer's voice, but not the one you think. The credits reveal the one in question is Val's son Jack Kilmer, but there's more to the story. "Jack has been a great friend to 'Willow' all along, you know," showrunner Jonathan Kasdan told Decider. "Between Joanne and Val, he basically is the child of the Willow franchise."

Val's battle with throat cancer, combined with his reluctance to film during the pandemic, made his appearance in season one an impossibility, so Kasdan made the best of what he had to work with. "We actually recorded with Val, and we used his performance as a guide track," he said. "Then Jack was given Val's performance to listen to and then copy what his dad had done in terms of, you know, the performance elements of Val's thing. Then to have him standing there on set — duplicating his father as he'd done for the documentary they made — it was surreal and very emotional because, you know, Val is such an intrinsic part of the family. He's such a critical element of Willow. He's still with us as a supporter and an advocate, and a counselor in terms of how to keep this character alive. And I think [he] would very much like to return to the screen if opportunity allows."

The veteran actor, with the help of AI, filmed a documentary about his life for Amazon Prime Video called Val, where the technology allowed him to narrate his life. The older Kilmer has returned to the screen since in mostly indie roles, but his most notable was Paramount's biggest hit of 2022 in Top Gun: Maverick, reprising his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. Whether Kilmer should return for season two depends on the Mouse should they decide to renew the series. Willow streams Wednesdays on Disney+.

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