Willow 2022 In Memoriam (for now)
Willow 2022 is no longer available for legal viewing in any format, anywhere. We hope it will be resurrected at some point, somehow, but TPTB at Disney have given us no concrete reason or timeline to expect its return. (Jon Kasdan, the show runner, has tweeted cryptic messages but is not in a position to make key decisions, nor to share details.)
First and foremost, I grieve for kids who now will not have the chance to stumble upon this wonderful show with a diverse/queer cast on a platform with the reach of Disney+. I can’t express in words how much I appreciated being able to watch this show with my enby 11-yo kid. Of course I also regret losing the opportunity to build the fandom over time with new viewers, as the Princess Bride did after a lackluster box-office opening in 1987, and I feel so angry on behalf of the creatives who poured their efforts and craft into this project. But I grieve even more the potentially life-saving representation that young people might have benefited from, and I fear for the chilling effect Disney’s decision might have on greenlighting queer/diverse projects aimed at younger audiences in the foreseeable future.
On a personal note: Actor Erin Kellyman has mentioned in interviews that playing the role of Jade Claymore helped her work on childhood issues, and I feel similarly about what watching the show has done for me. I was raised in central Kansas in the 1970s and 80s, a gender-non-normative “tomboy” lacking any mainstream queer representation. I don’t recall even learning the words “gay” and “lesbian” in the queer context until high school, and of course when I did, they were corrupted by ridicule and shame. Fortunately, I had a very strong sense of self and managed to survive and to thrive as a lesbian as soon as I went elsewhere for college.
I grew up as a fan of all the Lucasfilm franchises (including the original movie Willow, released in 1988). While I identified with both Leia and Han to a degree (and shipped them), something always felt off. There was something lacking in that magical Lucasfilm world. It was not just overt queer and diverse representation; it’s also the case, for example, that the entire original Star Wars trilogy does not pass the Bechdel-Wallace test. The original Indiana Jones trilogy barely does. (Criteria: there must be at least two named women who talk to each another about something besides a man.) Willow 1988 is the rare exception in early Lucasfilm that satisfies the Bechdel-Wallace test without our having to squint. As a fan of the original Willow, I found that Willow 2022 matched its spirit brilliantly and expanded its potential in such interesting directions.
I can’t begin to say how much it would have meant to me growing up to have had Willow 2022 within the Lucasfilm universe, for all these reasons. I really believe that a series like this would have changed the whole trajectory of my life - I am turning 50 soon - even when I count myself so very lucky to have had a supportive family and a strong sense of self. I am grateful that the first season of Willow 2022 exists at all, and it truly has propelled me to do a lot of important healing work around the childhood trauma of growing up queer at a time and place that was totally lacking in positive mainstream representation.
But it’s not enough: Willow 2022 should be made available for legal viewing in some form as soon as possible to keep saving lives and changing lives for the better.