In the fantasy classic Willow, young Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) meets charming crook Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and the unlikely duo come together and ultimately defeat Queen Bavmorda. The new series Willow, which just launched on Disney+ with a double episode, sees a reunion with Willow and even Madmartigan’s wife Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) – but not Madmartigan himself, despite his name being mentioned many times in the show.
Val Kilmer was originally intended to star in the series, and his role was written into the screenplay. And that despite the fact that the actor has had health problems for years and since his throat cancer treatment can only talk with the help of a technical device in his neck. That’s why his appearance in Top Gun 2: Maverick was so short and his character Iceman communicated through the computer.
However, Kilmer was determined to return for the series, as showrunner Jonathan Kasdan showed explained, “We really wanted Val to be on the show and Val really wanted to join us and be on the show. I remember going to see Val when the project was just starting and saying to him, ‘ Listen, we’re doing the series. And the whole world wants Madmartigan back.” And he said, ‘Nobody wants that as much as I do.’”
›› “Willow” on Disney+*
So the plan was to have Madmartigan appear in the first season, Kasdan said. How big this would have been is unknown, but the fan favorite would have been there and his absence wouldn’t have to be explained in a complicated way, as it does now in the finished series. But then everything changed – and almost at the last minute. “Very late in the process [wurde klar, dass wir ihn nicht bekommen würden]”, Kasdan remembers.
Val Kilmer was unable to travel due to Corona
Because Jonathan Kasdan and Val Kilmer had counted without COVID-19. Production of “Willow” started just as the corona pandemic started. And for Val Kilmer, with his fragile health, getting to the set became too risky: “Unfortunately, Val had to realize he couldn’t socialize.” Kasdan’s team then had to find a way to tell the story they had already devised for Madmartigan without the character appearing himself.
We got our first glimpse of the reason for Madmartigan’s absence in the first two episodes of Willow. Though his kids Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Airk (Dempsey Bryk) think their dad just ran off, the truth is that Sorsha has sent him on a mission to find a piece of legendary armor known as the Kymerian. Cuirass (“cuirass” in German). ). And more about this mission knows Kit’s companion Thraxus Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel), who pressures Kit in episode 2 to tell her more about her father’s true whereabouts…
Madmartigan reunion in season 2?
That Madmartigan is not dead in the series, just absent, but of course, leaves the door wide open for a Val Kilmer comeback in season 2 – should it come. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Jonathan Kasdan would really like a second season and would be happy if Val Kilmer’s health allows him this time around.