This week ‘Willow’ premiered on Disney+. It is true that we have still only been able to see two episodes of the series, but it is already confirmed that Val Kilmer has not participated in it. For this reason, the mythical character of Madmartigan from the original film will not make an appearance in any of the chapters and now we are going to review the reasons that led to it.
Those who have followed the actor’s career will know that the actor suffered from throat cancer and that a medical procedure caused him to lose his voice and left him in a fragile state of health. Nevertheless, his intention was always to participate in the series, nor that it was with a small appearance like the one he made in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, but in the end it was not possible. And the main culprit for this was the coronavirus.
Damn Corona Virus
jonathan kasdancreator of the Disney+ series, has clarified that at first the appearance of Kilmer was scheduled, and that he even met with the actor, who I was excited about the idea. This is what Kasdan has to say about it on EW:
We really wanted Val to be on the show. And Val wanted too. I remember going to Val the day after she got into a good rhythm and saying “Look, we’re going to do this and everyone wants Madmartigan back.” And he said “Not as much as I want it.”
He hugged me when I left. She picked me up and said, ‘See? I’m still super strong.’ And I was like, ‘Cool.’
The problem is that shortly after it broke out the coronavirus pandemicbut it wasn’t until very late in the process that it became clear that Kilmer was not going to be able to participate: “As COVID spread across the world, it became insurmountable. We were preparing the film in the spring of the year in which it happened the most. And Val, begrudgingly, didn’t feel like she could get out. We had to find a way to preserve the story that we wanted to tell with him about how his story unfolded.“.
Of course, Kasdan was clear that he did not want to rule out the possibility that Kilmer participate in a hypothetical second seasoncommenting on the following about it:
We wanted to leave the door open to any possibilities in the future and also honor his spirit. We try to do that and work with him in a way that he feels and is heard, even if he is not seen.
One thing that all this seems to make clear is that ‘Willow’ is not intended to be a one-season series.so it will be necessary to see if the adventure that they have raised ends at the end of this first batch of episodes of the Disney+ series…