The 1988 fantasy film Willow is considered a classic by critics and audiences. The story of a young wizard forced to venture far from home to save a kingdom and a young princess is held up with other films of that era, such as The Dark Crystal, Dragonheart, and Krull.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and gained the rights to this series. When looking for new content for their Disney+ streaming service, they dug into the Lucasfilm library and created a sequel series set decades later.

After premiering last December, the series has been met with mixed enthusiasm from fans of the original film. Even though critics love the show (giving it an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes) audiences haven’t been as welcoming.



The decision to make the titular hero of the first film a grumpy old wizard who isn’t all that powerful and focus on a new generation of unlikeable characters, with the young princess, now grown up being more powerful than Willow himself, rubbed people the wrong way. There have even been comparisons with the recent Star Wars Sequel Trilogy in how it handles its characters.

After only being on the service for three months, the decision was made to cancel the series after its initial eight episodes. Despite the best efforts of showrunner Johnathan Kasdan, the series will end up being left to gather dust.

The decision comes following Disney’s announcement that it will cut back on spending for original programming for their streaming service. With Disney desperate for money and subscribers, they must do what they can to salvage their IPs.



However, it should be noted that Chris Claremont wrote a sequel novel series, overseen by George Lucas, entitled Chronicles of the Shadow War with Shadow Moon in 1995, Shadow Dawn in 1996, and Shadow Star in 2000. Much like the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy, many see this as the true continuation o the story.

Were you a fan of the series? Do you think it should have been canceled?

Source: Deadline