Willow: Jack Kilmer Explains How He Ended Up Stepping in For His Dad Val Kilmer in Sequel Series

02/05/2023 06:55 pm EST

The first season of Willow saw the return of Warwick Davis in the titular role, which he originated 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 his beloved character's presence was felt throughout the season. In fact, Kilmer's son, Jack Kilmer, provided Madmartigan's voice in two episodes of the show. The younger Kilmer is also the son of Joanne Whalley, who plays Sorsha in the original movie as well as the new show. Considering his parents met while making Willow, Kilmer was happy to lend his voice to the sequel series. 

"I talked to the director, Jonathan Kasdan, a lot about it, and he had a lot of questions for us because my parents both met on that movie Willow," Kilmer explained to ComigSoon. "Jon was so obsessed with the fact that we were all down to do this TV show. Going in, I did a little voiceover for one of the episodes and helping out my dad's character, Madmartigan." 

He added, "I just got to sit ... it was really like I got to go to Warner Bros. and hang out with Jon Kasdan and just talk about the legacy of it. We both were fanning out about the whole movie and just having a laugh, you know? And then he was like, 'Well, can you help with these lines?' And I was like, 'Yeah, sure. I'll take a crack at it.' And so it became a little Easter egg in there."

"Jack has been a great friend to Willow all along, you know," Kasdan previously told Decider. "Between Joanne and Val he basically is the child of the Willow franchise." He added, "We actually recorded with Val and we used his performance as a guide track. Then Jack was given 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 Top: Gun Maverick Inspire Willow?

While Kilmer wasn't seen in the new Willow series, he did reprise his role as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick last year, and Kasdan recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the Top Gun sequel influenced Willow. 

"Not only did it give us food for thought, but my executive producer, Tommy Harper, was the executive producer of Top Gun: Maverick, so he worked with Val then," Kasdan explained of the film. "I had already met Val when we were setting out to do this thing. We've been talking 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 asks the question of what happened to Madmartigan. And when there was a real shot at getting him out to Wales during our first season, we had a very specific moment when that question was going to be answered. But when it became clear that we weren't going to get him out there because of the restrictions that Covid was putting on all of us, we simply pushed the question a little further down the road and continued to build it out in ways that we thought were tantalizing and fun."Will Willow Get a Second Season?

The first season of Willow is now streaming on Disney+. 

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