The explosion of '80s-inspired series doesn't end with

Stranger Things

, and the torrent of platform content continues to search for

the perfect new gadget to bring different generations together

under the warm blanket of nostalgia.

The new contender is

Willow

, a fantasy series based on the

Ron Howard

film that was conceived under the baton of

Star Wars

and

Indiana Jones

creator

George Lucas

, who was looking to make his own alternate version of

The Lord of the Rings. rings

, captivating the children of 1988. However, not everyone could see it at the time of its release, since it turned out to be a small box office disappointment, despite

earning 137 million dollars with a budget of 35

, which was considered below the expectations of a production company accustomed to gargantuan successes.

The series is the first live action title that moves away from the production scheme of the platform that has

Marvel

and

Star Wars

as flagships, building on a classic designed for the big screen that has been gaining followers and cult throughout decades, so it is a property capable of providing hours of content under a brand that sounds.

It is evident that the lubricant that makes these gears work is childhood memory

, but the idea that there is a public that demands all these

revivals

is beginning to remit and the strategy on the part of the great streamers against the depletion of the source is not very clear of successes of other decades.

Willow

is still a garnish resulting from the agreement that

Disney

reached with

Lucasfilm

on October 30, 2012.

A purchase valued at 4,050 million

that marked the beginning of the resurrection of the Star Wars franchise, the true sirloin of the deal, at least until that they decide on some formula to continue the franchise of

Indiana Jones

without the presence of

Harrison Ford

.

His new bet appears with echoes of statements by director

Ron Howard

, who assured in 2016 that continuing his epic adventure in the form of a series was always his dream, something that

Jonathan Kasdan clarifies.

.

The scriptwriter and executive producer of the series details in an interview with Slashfilm that both the director and

George Lucas

had never been very convinced of the version for the small screen, despite the fact that there was a collection of novels, highly regarded among fans. , which narrated what happened after the reign of terror of the witch Bavmorda.

But Howard's attitude changed when they filmed together

Han Solo

, a

spin-off

co-written by Kasdan, which already featured actor

Warwick Davis

in a small role, and gave some hope to rumors of a revival between the director and the actor. making fans dream of their return to the shadowlands.

Davis was always linked to

Star Wars

: He was a leading Ewok in the original trilogy of the galactic saga, with which, by the way,

Willow

has many points in common, beyond sharing the same producer.

Yes, the journey of the Nelwyn was much like Frodo's journey to Mordor, but there was also an apprenticeship in the use of "the force" in the form of traditional magic, an ancient teacher cut off from the world, a princess who happened to be the daughter of the villainess and even a lookalike to Harrison Ford's rogue mercenary hero with the face of Val Kilmer.

For this reason , it is

not surprising that the new series has taken the path of the "requel"

, that is to say, a

reboot

disguised as a canonical sequel,

an ambivalent recipe to give new luster to the classics

, without completely reinventing its legacy, which more or less is pulled out of the sleeve JJ Abrams with

Star Wars Episode VII

: The awakening of the force.

A formula that invites children in their forties to rescue their aging idols while offering a facelift to the same universe to engage a new generation of viewers.

It is the same path followed by big studio bets such as

Ghostbusters: Beyond

,

Creed

,

Halloween night

or

Scream

, and that in the case of

Willow

swings between the aesthetic keys of the 80s film and the new platform productions directed to the

young adult

public

.

There are design references, returning actors or some similar monster, but

the packaging of the series is more modern, with neutral lighting

, almost opposite to the dark tale photography of the original, which seeks to resemble other recent fantasy series for the public. youth.

Its setting in an indeterminate world, in which monsters and forest fairies are possible, reveals the intentions of

Disney+

, which needs an ace up its sleeve with a sword and sorcery character to enter to compete in the war between

The Rings of power

and

The House of the Dragon

.

The difference with these is that it has a Gen Z

vocation patent

, evidenced in its cast of new adolescent characters that camouflage

Willow

among other series aimed at the same audience such as

The Wheel of Time

,

Cursed

or

Shadow and Bone

, with which it also plays with many structural elements of all of them: the

casting

is specially selected to cover folders with their photos, the colorful wardrobe is very clean and we have inevitable love soap operas ready for interaction on all the social networks that resistant

Facebook

users still don't know about.

Of course,

there is racial diversity in the cast, as well as LGTBI+ representation

, and among all the protagonists we have a whole range that tries to compensate for the Caucasian and heteronormative uniformity of the original, which, however, was one of the few big-budget films that relied on a person of short stature the leading role.

And an adult Davis is the main link with the Ron Howard film, although instead of

Hobbit

, now plays the role of little Gandalf, leading the new community on an adventure rich in landscapes and open locations, but without too many handles for the mature viewer attracted by memory.

Joanne Whalley's character gains weight, and now Sorsha is a queen who tries to rule by driving away the ghosts of her evil mother, although

she misses Madmartigan

, the quarrelsome disgraced knight who gave

Val Kilmer

the opportunity to fill with charisma the screen.

The legendary actor, who has had an exciting comeback in 2022 thanks to

Top Gun: Maverick

, wanted to participate in the series in some way, but production problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic and his complications from throat cancer made very difficult his presence as the anti-hero Daikini.

Despite the vacuum created by Kilmer,

Willow

has all the necessary ingredients to make the brand profitable, but, at the same time, it

exposes a paradoxical mechanics that affects all "requel" operations with cultural milestones from the 80s.

.

On the one hand, stamps are recovered that only those who are parents already remember, but on the other hand, it is addressed to a generation that tries by all means to rebel against their own.

There are very clever cases of successful sequels in shows like

Cobra Kai

, whose hero is the villain of The

Karate Kid

and deals, with a lot of self-conscious humor, about how a boomer adapts to a new cultural paradigm.

Now, in this case, it is possible to imagine that some of the fans of the Ron Howard film are today outraged by the youthful

casting

after tweeting about political correctness, while its potential audience of 13-18 years raises their eyebrows at the versions of

Metallica

in the credits, aimed at a generation not so distant from their parents.

In any case, with a new cast with some charisma and the presence of none other than

James Newton

Howard

on the music, the idea of ​​putting

Willow

Leading a group of kids with different abilities, he alternates the current and the classic with a certain balance.

In addition, the tall children who went to the movies in 1988, may find themselves by carambola with a kind of apocryphal live action adaptation of another of their longed for nostalgic resurrections, the cartoon series Dungeons and Dragons, in which a group also Assorted waiters were led through a fantasy land by a very small wizard.

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