Ron Howard worked on the 1988 fantasy adventure film Willow featuring Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood. He was later approached by Jonathan Kasdan with an idea to reboot the original film as a Disney+ series. The studio announced the project officially in October 2020, with Davis set to reprise his character from the 1988 film. The series was released on Disney+ and received a pretty good response.
However, despite that, the studio has now decided to cancel the series just after the release of its first season. Fans of the series, who were excited about Warwick Davis’ return, are now sharing their disappointment about its cancellation on Twitter.
Disney Cancels Willow After a Single Season
A reboot of the 1988 film starring Warwick Davis was released on Disney+ in late November 2022 and released its eighth and last episode in January 2023. The series follows Ufgood decades after Queen Bavmorda was defeated. He is joined by five new heroes on a quest to save Prince Airk and their world from Gales.
Although the series received positive reviews from critics, having an 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it was still unable to make it among some of the most streamed series. It debuted among the top Disney+ series and movies in the United States.
However, the viewership was still less for the reboot of an 80’s cult classic film. And more than two months after its release, the studio has announced that it is not planning to continue Willow’s adventures on Disney+.
The cancellation also comes as Lucasfilm goes through a transition period and reconsiders possible future projects under its popular franchises, such as Star Wars. Earlier, the streaming platform canceled two of its shows, Mighty Ducks: Game Changer and Big Shot. Both shows ran for two seasons on Disney+.
Fans Disappointed With Willow’s Cancellation
Fans of Willow and Warwick Davis do not support the idea of canceling the series just after a single season and have shared their thoughts about its cancellation on Twitter. However, some people pointed out the series’ flaws in being unable to get a renewal for another season.
Fans, who waited for Warwick Davis’ return as Willow Ufgood, were disappointed that they would not see him as the Nelwyn sorcerer. Fans also pointed out how the new cast “didn’t quite work” for the series, and they would have loved to see their character development in the next season of the Disney+ series.
Willow is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Deadline
