Willow may not be cancelled after all, despite earlier reports.
"A decision was made last week to release our main cast for other series opportunities that may arise for them in the coming year," showrunner Jonathan Kasdan wrote in a lengthy Twitter statement. "With all the TV and movies in production around the world, it feels unfair to limit an actor's availability without a clear sense of when you're going to need them again. It's further trivialized by the simple reality that the scripts we've been working on require just as many actors with whom no such contractual hold exists."
Deadline reported the cancellation last week, stating that the decision was made in the midst of Lucasfilm currently "reassessing its film slate." Kasdan went on to dispute this in his statement, and assure fans and viewers alike that a second season is still in development – it just won't happen this year or the next.
"If you're asking what this means for you as a viewer, or me as the creator, here's what I think it means: Due to forces much larger and more intricate than I would ever pretend to fully understand production of streaming shows is slowing down across the entire industry, and 'Willow' won't resume filming in the next 12 months," he continued.
"But here's what's equally true: with the enthusiastic and unwavering support of Lucasfilm, and Disney, we've developed and written what we hope is a brain-meltingly fun, richer, darker and better VOLUME II, which builds on the characters and story of our first eight chapters (The Wyrm survives!)"
The series, which acts as a direct sequel to the 1988 dark fantasy film from director Ron Howard, premiered on November 30, 2022, and currently sits at an 83% Fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The cast includes Warwick Davis, Erin Kellyman, Spider-Man's Tony Revolori, Ellie Bamber, Ruby Cruz, Talisa Garcia, Amer Chadha-Patel, Dempsey Bryk, and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers. Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton returned to reprise their roles as house elf duo Rool and Franjean, respectively. Additionally, Annabelle Davis, the real-life daughter of Warwick, plays Willow's daughter Mims.
Willow season 1 can be streamed on Disney Plus. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2022 and beyond.
