Warning: Do not read if you want to be surprised by Willow episode 6!
From the beginning of the Willow TV series, we’ve been told that Val Kilmer would not be making a cameo on the show. Die to his status as an immune-compromised cancer survivor, he judged the travel during quarantine to be too risky for his health. However, showrunner Jonathan Kasdan did promise us that the character of Madmartigan would figure in a big way, and so he has. The character’s final mission and disappearance proves key to the quest for his kidnapped son.
In the recent episode 6, though, we got to hear Madmartigan’s voice, calling to his daughter Kit to lure her through a portal. As anyone who’s seen any recent footage of Kilmer knows, his voice no longer sounds that way after throat surgery. And as revealed by Decider, the lines were recorded by his son Jack, whose mother, Joanne Whalley, first met Kilmer when they costarred in the original Willow. “Between Joanne and Val he basically is the child of the Willow franchise,” says Kasdan.
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But that’s not the whole story. The elder Kilmer did record the lines first. “We actually recorded with Val and we used his performance as a guide track,” Kasdan said. “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.” It’s the same thing Kilmer father and son did in the documentary Val, with his sound-alike son reading dad’s narration.
Should Willow get renewed for a season 2, and COVID protocols allow safe travel, Val Kilmer remains interested in appearing. Since that’s far from a guarantee, this seems like the best outcome under the circumstances of production.
Do you want to see Willow renewed? Let us know in comments!
Recommended Reading: Willow: The Storybook Based On the Movie
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