Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Willow’s executive producer Ron Howard talks about the chances for a second season of the Disney+ series, and discusses the future of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Well, is it still hard to believe that a Willow sequel now exists?
(Laughs.) Well, there’s something about it that has always seemed somewhat inevitable to me. 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.
There were always fans who wanted a sequel, but did it take the creation of Disney+ for the conversation to truly happen?
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. 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.
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.
Did you have any prerequisites or wishes of your own for the 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. 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.
Is there a dialogue happening currently about Willow 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.
Well, I have to tell you that your recent quotes about a Solo sequel not being a “Lucasfilm priority” have caused me a great deal of pain and distress because I really love that movie.
(Laughs.) Thank you.
Is Disney+ an option at all? As Willow and Andor prove, it’s a place where Lucasfilm can take chances.
I’m not a producer on Solo. I came in in support of the project and for my long relationship with George, Kathy and Larry Kasdan. So I have not even been in conversations about it. One would assume that there’s some characters there that could go much further, but I’m not sure where Disney+ is going with the Galaxy. These shows are not only important to everybody who works on them, but they’re a big bet for the company each and every time. They make their choices really carefully, and they want to keep growing and evolving. So I know that’s not really an answer, but there’s a real appetite to understand where Star Wars can take audience members to, in addition to building upon characters and ideas that are already known. But there’s a lot of talent in Solo, and whether I was involved or not, I would love to see some of those characters again.
We will be sure to share any news on a second and third season of Willow, which was alluded to during the season one finale, and a sequel to Solo as a film or Disney+ series. Read the interview in full at the link below.
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