Jon Kasdan says Willow isn’t cancelled, just on hiatus

Willow showrunner Jon Kasdan wouldn’t say that the Disney+ series has been cancelled, preferring to say it’s on hiatus instead.

It was reported earlier this week that Disney+ had cancelled the Willow series after its first season, but that’s not how showrunner Jon Kasdan would have phrased it.

In a three-part statement on Twitter, Jon Kasdan set the record straight on the supposed cancellation of Willow. “I feel fairly confident that, if asked, neither I, nor the folks at Lucasfilm, would or have actually characterized it quite that way,” Kasdan said. “The truth is less splashy, but here it is: A decision was made last week to released our main cast for other series opportunities that may arise for them in the coming year. With all the TV and movies in production around the world, it feels unfair to limit an actor’s availability without a clear sense of when you’re going to need them again.“

Kasdan continued, “If you’re asking what this means for you as a viewer, or me as the creator, here’s what I think it means: Due to forces much larger and more intricate than I would ever pretend to fully understand, production of streaming shows is slowing down across the entire industry, and Willow won’t resume filming in the next 12 months.“

If and when Willow does return, Jon Kasdan is ready. He’s already written the second season of Willow with “the enthusiastic and unwavering support of Lucasfilm and Disney,” which he hopes will be “brain-meltingly fun, richer, darker, and better.” If you recall, the first season of Willow ended with the first volume of the story being put on a self next to a second and third volume. Kasdan teased that Volume II is “all about courage, desire, acceptance and the comedy and beauty to be found in even the darkest places and moments. It’s about the enemies we must inevitably confront, both without and, often far more insidiously, from within. But, above all, it’s about the ineffable and enduring magic of friendship.” So it sounds like Willow isn’t quite as dead as we believed just days ago, but there could be quite a long hiatus between seasons by the time everything is said and done. You can read Jon Kasdan’s whole statement below.