Directed by Ron Howard, and with George Lucas as Executive Producer and providing the story, not many under a certain age will remember that when Willow opened in theaters in 1988, it was a groundbreaker in terms of dark fantasy world building and in special effects. While it mixed fantasy elements of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings with a Star Wars ‘good vs evil’ dichotomy, let’s recall that while Tolkien may have been writing his novel in the late 1930s and published in 1954, the film adaptations weren’t going to hit our screens until 2001.

So in a sense, Willow paved the way for dark fantasy films to be getting the production green light from major movie companies. While the film wasn’t a big hit in the theaters and clearly divided the film critics, it’s Box Office take of over $137 million against a budget of some $36 million demonstrated that there was a market for mature fantasy; story-telling that could be enjoyed by the kids at one level, but was dark and complex enough to be appreciated as escapist fare by adults. 

Madmartigan (Val Kilmer, in one of those roles that echoed Han Solo) and Sorsha (Joanne Whalley, who were eventually going to end up married for a time), share their adventures with Willow (Warwick Davis). And the more sophisticated digital morphing that was used for the first time in Willow was one of the game-changers in special effects and earned the film a technical Oscar nomination. So it’s been written in the stars that Disney+ would eventually embark on a sequel.

"Willow drops" on Nov. 30 on Disney+ as an eight episode Limited Series. It’s narrative is centered on a coming of age quest that’s led by Kit (Ruby Cruz), a princess and daughter of Sorsha (Joanne Whalley reprising her role). Characters portrayed by Erin Kellyman, Elle Bamber, Tony Revolori, Amar Chadha-Patel, and Warwick as a more mature Willow, all join Kit as they battle the forces of evil that threaten to engulf their world and it’ll be a quest that involves them having to face their inner demons.

From the original film, both Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton are also back, and Christian Slater will take on a role that has deep connections to the character first portrayed by Val Kilmer. 

From the trailers, it looks like high adventure and interesting character exposition will both rule in the series. It promises to be something the younger audience will gravitate to, while older audiences are in for a satisfying shot of nostalgia, along with new challenges and magical action sequences. While Val Kilmer’s bout with throat cancer precludes him from joining the cast, Madmartigan will still cast a shadow over the proceedings, and fans of the original film will be happy to hear that.