Disney cancelling Willow is part of an annoying trend

Disney+ have officially announced that Willow won’t be getting a second series. Which is probably a shame.

I am not saying that to be callous; I just haven’t seen the first series. And now, I probably never will. From what I hear, they left it on a cliffhanger, which is always a dumb thing to do. I was going to give it a go as I loved the original Willow film, but now I can be arsed.

These days – and I am sure I’m not alone in this – I often wait until I know something is complete before I get involved. Not always, but after having been burned multiple times in TV shows and books, it is becoming more frequent. Willow is just the latest in a long line of disappointment that doesn’t get to finish the story it set out to tell.

In some ways, I know that will lead to me missing out on some great stuff. But I might still give something a go if friends recommend it enough. Firefly for example, came highly recommended and happily, there was then a movie that kind of wrapped it all. It is still going on in comic book form. 

Farscape was similar, although it had a lot more series under its belt before it was cancelled. It too had some extra episodes to wrap things up.  

Other shows, like Dark Angel (fun), Stargate Universe (had potential), and Terra Nova (a bit daft) all hooked me into their stories and didn’t finish properly. That was annoying.

And it is not just TV shows that are doing this. I first became wary after getting massively invested in the Game of Thrones books. Then I read The Name of the Wind, knowing it had a sequel and that it was part of a trilogy. What I didn’t learn until after finishing was that Rothfuss had taken ages over finishing the trilogy. The Wise Man’s Fear is now coming up on the 10th anniversary of its publication.

Like with George RR Martin, I am starting to think Patrick Rothfuss will never finish the trilogy. Which is his call – it just means I won’t bother proceeding any further with either series until they are complete.

There are two main problems that I am essentially complaining about here. The first is that no one should launch a series and end it on a cliffhanger. This also goes for movies which set up a sequel at the end. Finish the story arcs and if you have to, maybe hint at something ongoing.

The second is that TV producers shouldn’t cancel things so fast. Firefly was brilliant and deserved more. Producers and money types should look back and watch Star Trek the Next Generation for inspiration. The first series was awful, but it ended up as arguably the best Trek of all. 

I didn’t see Willow, but many seemed to love it and maybe it was cancelled too early. Sadly, unless they release an episode or movie that wraps things up, then I guess I’ll never find out for myself. This isn’t a new trend, so maybe it’s not even a trend, but it is annoying. I’m off to watch Firefly again.