Willow arrived on Disney+ with a flurry of episodes to kick off a nostalgic return to the 1988 fantasy movie of the same name. While the revival of the franchise has delivered a delightful window back into the world of Warwick Davis’ sorcerer for some, many fans of the movie have not been quite as endeared by the opening episodes of the series, leading to it carrying a hugely disappointing 24% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes.
Disney+ seemed to be onto another winning series when the first trailers for Willow dropped, but after the release of the first episodes the series has seen a massive amount of 1-star reviews with two big issues being called out again and again in some lengthy critical reviews from audiences. The most frequent complaint seems to focus on the writing of the show, which is cited dozens of times in every page of reviews as being “bad fan fiction”, “unwatchable” and “a shadow of the movie.” Several reviews even questioned why the “team who destroyed Star Wars” with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Movie, were being put in a position to do the same to Willow.
The additional complaint is how the title character seems to be playing second fiddle in his own series in the opening episodes of the show. This leads to the often-repeated audience comments that the younger cast brought in to lead the show is too modern and not in the context of the world Willow is set in, something that comes up in many reviews of revived movies and shows based on older franchises.
Will Willow Get A Second Season on Disney+?
In a stark contrast to the audience reviews, critics have not only been much kinder to Willow, giving it an 84% approval rating, they have scored it way above the movie. However, this kind of contrasting opinion between audiences and critics is a common theme in many releases over the last few years, and while that makes a great talking point it is not going to get the series a second season. Showrunner Jonathan Kasdan has made it clear that he would love to delve deeper into Willow’s world with another season. He said:
"We're certainly working at it and I'm begging Kathy [Kennedy] because working with these actors and this crew of filmmakers on this show has been the best experience. We still feel like there are a lot of stories and bigger places to visit."
The renewal of any series comes from a number of factors, and one of the biggest ones seems to be the completion rate that a show has. While many reviewers are quick to jump in early on series, dropping their comments after just a few episodes, whether these people return for the subsequent episodes is what now makes or breaks any potential future seasons. With Willow still having plenty to give, there is still a while to wait before we find out if the fantasy adventure series will get a second shot at making a good first impression or not.
Willow’s first episodes are available now on Disney+ with new episodes being released each week.