The former Batman actor does not reprise his role for the long-awaited follow-up to 1988\u2019s cult hit fantasy film, but it has been promised that his character will remain a \u201chuge part\u201d of the ongoing story.<\/p>\n
Kilmer played a disgraced knight named Madmartigan in the original feature, who helps aspiring sorcerer Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) to protect an infant from the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh).<\/p>
After stepping back from acting due to a battle with throat cancer, Kilmer has seen an outpouring of support for his return to cinemas in this month\u2019s Top Gun: Maverick, prompting questions over his absence from the Willow<\/a> sequel.<\/p>\n Executive producer Jonathan Kasdan told Yahoo Entertainment<\/a> that a physical appearance from Kilmer was prevented by the restrictions of the pandemic, but fans can rest assured he has been consulted about the project.<\/p>\n \u201cVal\u2019s a huge part of this, and the first conversation I had, when Warwick and I got the green light to do this, was with Val,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe wanted his character to be a part of the story. We wanted him to be in the show.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we were shooting during [the COVID-19 lockdowns], he wasn\u2019t able to come to Wales and shoot with us. But he is in the show in a big way. And we\u2019re pretty excited about it. Madmartigan lives on.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, at the show\u2019s Star Wars Celebration panel, Kasdan emphasised that he and Willow co-star Joanne Whalley \u2013 who was married to Kilmer for a period in the 80s and 90s \u2013 have been in communication with Kilmer (via Comic Book<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made him a major figure in the story,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Last year, a documentary titled Val was released on Prime Video, which explores the actor\u2019s life and career as well as his recent health issues.<\/p>\n Willow is coming soon to Disney Plus. Check out more of our Fantasy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/b><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By David Craig Published: Saturday, 28 May 2022 at 12:00 am The executive producer behind the upcoming Willow sequel series on Disney Plus have talked up the involvement of Top Gun: Maverick star Val Kilmer at this week\u2019s Star Wars Celebration panel. The former Batman actor does not reprise his role for the long-awaited follow-up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16170,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/top-gun-maverick-star-val-kilmer-a-huge-part-of-willow-series-says-producer.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By David Craig Published: Saturday, 28 May 2022 at 12:00 am The executive producer behind the upcoming Willow sequel series on Disney Plus have talked up the involvement of Top Gun: Maverick star Val Kilmer at this week\u2019s Star Wars Celebration panel. The former Batman actor does not reprise his role for the long-awaited follow-up…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/16169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/willow-val-kilmer-warwick-davis-3266ecc.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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