The first season of Willow saw the return of Warwick Davis in the titular role, spawning in the 1988 film of the same name, but the Disney+ series was missing one familiar face. Val Kilmer was unable to return as Madmartigen due to his health, but the presence of his beloved character was felt throughout the season. Kilmer’s son, Jack Kilmer, even provided the voice of Madmartigan in two episodes of the show. The younger Kilmer is also the son of Joanne Whalley, who plays Sorsha in the original movie and in the new show. Considering his parents met during the making WillowKilmer happily lent his voice to the sequel series.
“I talked to the director, Jonathan Kasdan, about it a lot and he had a lot of questions for us because my parents both met in that film. WillowKilmer explained Shortly. “Jon was so obsessed with the fact that we all wanted to do this TV show. When I went in, I did a little voiceover for one of the episodes and helped out my dad’s character, Madmartigan.”
He added, “I just have to sit down… it was really like I had to go to Warner Bros. and hang out with Jon Kasdan and just talk about the legacy of it. We were both flailing about the whole movie and just laugh, you know? And then he said, “Well, can you help with these lines?” And I was like, “Yeah, sure. I’ll try.” And so it became a little Easter egg there.”
“Jack has been a good friend of ours Willow all the while, you know,” Kasdan previously shared Decide. “Between Joanne and Val, he’s actually the child of the Willow franchise.” He added, “We even recorded with Val and we used his performance as a guide. Then Jack got Val’s performance to listen to and then copy what his dad had done in terms of you know, the performance elements of Val’s thing.
How did Above: Gun Maverick Inspire Willow?
While Kilmer was not seen in the new Willow series, he reprized his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky Top gun: Maverick last year, and Kasdan recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the Top gun continued impact Willow.
“Not only did it give us food for thought, but my executive producer, Tommy Harper, was the executive producer on Ton Gun: Maverick, so he was working with Val at the time,” Kasdan explained of the film. I had already met Val when we planned to do this thing. We’ve talked pretty consistently every day of our lives about how to bring Madmartigan back and how that character can continue to live within the Willow universe. And much of the first season questions what happened to Madmartigan. And when there was a real chance of bringing him to Wales during our first season, we had a very specific moment where that question would be answered. But when it became clear we weren’t going to get him out there due to the restrictions Covid placed on all of us, we just pushed the question a little bit further down the road and continued to build out in ways we thought were enticing and fun . “Will Willow Getting a second season?
The first season of Willow now streaming on Disney+.
