For the last two months, fans of Willow have wanted it to go beyond one season, but news has been broken from Deadline that the Disney Plus series has been canceled. The eight-episode series was a sequel to the 1988 classic fantasy film directed by Ron Howard.
Although the series captured positive reviews, Willow did not have the viewership on Disney Plus to continue, leading it to be canceled. On Rotten Tomatoes, it had an 83% from critics and a passable score from audiences with 66%. People felt it captured what fans liked about the original while expanding the world and characters.
As noted by Deadline, the IP is important enough that it could return in some other format.
Willow canceled after one season on Disney Plus
The streaming service is still young compared to its rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The company has been figuring out how to go about its content delivery across original shows and movies, and then transferring films from theaters to streaming. Ex-CEO Bob Chapek spearheaded it in one direction, but decisions are going to be drastically different since Bob Iger has returned to lead the company, particularly focusing on its streaming endeavors.
Willow being canceled on Disney Plus cuts short of the door it left open to further its story. It brought a group of misfits onto an epic, dangerous journey with Willow Ufgood. Warwick Davis reprised his role from the original film. Newcomers included Ruby Cruz (Mare of Easttown), Tony Revolori (Scream VI), Ellie Bamber (Les Misérables), Erin Kellyman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Amar Chadha-Patel (The Wheel of Time).
Jonathan Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story) wrote and executive produced the series. The eight episodes were evenly split between directors Philippa Lowthorpe (Three Girls), Debs Paterson (Halo), Stephen Woolfenden (Outlander), and Jamie Childs (The Sandman).