Posted in: Disney+, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, Jonathan Kasdan, ron howard, warwick davis, willow

Willow: Ron Howard on Season 2 Possibilities, Sequel Series Response

Willow director Ron Howard discusses the path from the 1988 original film to the legacy sequel series on Disney+ and Season 2 possibilities.

After director Ron Howard wrapped filming the original Willow in 1988, there were always plans to expand it in some way possible as a TV series as original visionary George Lucas imagined. Unfortunately, the technological and financial needs for such a project didn't mean the demands to expand the franchise universe until now with the Disney+ series from Jonathan Kasdan. While Howard didn't direct the new series, he did offer creative notes to Kasdan during the filming of the first season. He spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about returning to the franchise and its possible future.

Willow: From Film to Disney+ Legacy Sequel

"Well, there's something about it that has always seemed somewhat inevitable to me," Howard said when asked if he thought about a Willow sequel finally becoming a reality. "It's something that George [Lucas] always really believed in. He thought a series was the right way to further develop the world and keep it alive. It was in books, but he always believed that a series would be a great way to explore the world that was launched by the movie. And then, when [Lucasfilm boss] Kathy Kennedy was involved, I began mentioning it to her as something that I'd love to be a part of and work on. So that conversation continued on when I came in and began working on Solo."

Howard broke down what technology today allows them to do. "With Disney+, we finally had the environment that would support the show in a very cinematic way. You could benefit from the work that the movie had done and take it further thanks to digital technology and all that provides us in terms of special effects," he said. "So it's not something that you could necessarily do on a network or cable budget, Game of Thrones aside. But the other thing is that the world has endured. The idea of Willow as a character has just grown over the years, generationally, and the combination of Disney+ wanting to be ambitious, needing to do more, and this undercurrent of support made it seem like a good bet for them."

The two-time Oscar-winner also credits the showrunner on how the Willow universe was expanded. "And Jon Kasdan also had a great take on it. He was able to walk into our meeting with a point of view about how to take the world further and broaden the evil in the landscape and look at characters beyond Willow. He had great instincts about who the next generation of adventurers and significant central characters would be and what they would look like." Howard compared his own experience to the Disney+ series.

"[Screenwriter] Bob Dolman, myself, and George built the original movie around character humor and relationships, interfacing, interacting, coping with and navigating the magical and fantasy aspect of the story," Howard said. "So we wanted the series' characters to be really relatable in a kind of contemporary way, as the movie had been, and to upgrade that. So it had to be about these relationships, and in a series, you can service more relationships." As far as a possible season two, "Well, there's always been a hope and a plan for more seasons. There's certainly more story to tell, but there's nothing concrete that I can comment on right now. From a creative standpoint, everybody is energized. Everybody loved working on Willow. It felt like it found its voice and its footing, so we're just standing by."

For more, including Howard breaking down the creative process with Kasdan, what filming the 1988 classic taught him as a filmmaker, favorite Val Kilmer (Madmartigan) and Warwick Davis (Willow) moment on set, expanding Solo: A Star Wars Movie to a possible Disney+ series, and more, you can check out the complete interview here.

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