Ron Howard’s famed 1988 fantasy film “Willow” returns this week as the property scores a Disney+ series revival, with “Willow” launching on the service in a few hours.
Warwick Davis reprises his role from the original film, but sadly his cohort Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) won’t be joining him. The original film came out during Kilmer’s peak late 1980s/early 1990s career period.
Kilmer was originally attached to return for the new series but eventually had to step away due to his health issues. Speaking with EW, writer Jonathan Kasdan explains Kilmer’s absence:
“We really wanted Val to come be in the show, and Val really wanted to come out and be in the show. I remember going to see Val right after this thing started to get some momentum, and I said, ‘Listen, we’re doing this. And the whole world wants Madmartigan back.’ And he was like, ‘Not as much as I do.’ He embraced me when I left. He picked me up, and he said, ‘See? I’m still super strong.’ And I was like, ‘Great.'”
The biggest complication was Kilmer, still dealing with the result of his throat cancer battle, not able to include his voice. Then with the onset of COVID and the increased regulations, Kilmer wasn’t able to join them for production:
“As COVID overtook the world, it became insurmountable. We were prepping in the spring of the year that it was most happening. And Val reluctantly didn’t feel he could come out. We had to figure out a way to preserve the story we wanted to tell with him about how his story was playing out.”
Though Madmartigan doesn’t appear, the show is designed for potential future seasons and the possibility remains:
“We wanted to leave open the door to any possibility in the future and also honor the spirit of him. We’ve tried to do that and work with him in a way so that he is felt and heard, if not seen.”
“Willow” debuts on Disney+ on November 30th.
