Darth Maul Replaced In Upcoming Star Wars Series
Reports have been coming out stating that Darth Maul was set to be the chief antagonist for a Star Wars series, but was written out.
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Sad news on the Star Wars front has come in. Reports are emerging that state that the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series was initially going to feature Darth Maul as one of the chief antagonists, but he was written out of the show completely in lieu of Darth Vader returning. Darth Maul appearing to shake things up with Obi-Wan would have made some sense, considering that he was constantly at odd ends with the Jedi Master in the show Rebels and Clone Wars. Rumors are that Ray Parks, who famously portrayed the red menace in the prequels, was also gearing up to reprise his role.
Let’s rewind things a bit to truly understand why Darth Maul would return at all. While most remember Maul from the prequels, as the apprentice of The Emperor, he was then “killed” by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This took place during The Phantom Menace. After one of the most epic Star Wars duels saw Maul dispatch Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan got the upper hand and literally split the Sith in half. His body would fall down the shaft of the spaceship they were on, and that seemed to signify his end. However, Jedi and Sith are all imbued with special abilities and the lightsaber wound that Maul had received could have also instantly cauterized his wounds. So, fast forward to the animated series, Clone Wars. The expanded version of the story tells about Anakin growing into his Jedi training, the war between the Separatists and the Republic, and much more. Season four of this show saw the return of Maul, who was sporting brand new robotic legs. His chief purpose in life was to get revenge on Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan and Darth Maul also have one final face-off during the other animated show, Rebels. That was also when Obi-Wan had already aged into the old man we all know him by in the original trilogy. So technically, Maul could have appeared during Obi-Wan’s years on Tattooine while he was in hiding. However, based on the trailer and the information, it also makes sense why Maul was written out. The Phantom Menace saw Maul essentially wanting to track and hunt down a young Anakin Skywalker. The new trailer for the Obi-Wan series also may have shown a young Luke Skywalker. So naturally, Maul hunting and wanting to kill or take two young force users was far too identical plot-wise.
The initial reports are a bit muddled, but apparently, the original script had been passed to Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, who is chiefly responsible for The Mandalorian. They also pointed out the wolf and cub storyline in which Mando and Grogu share, was too much like Obi-Wan wanting to protect a young Luke. So, Filoni proposed bringing back Darth Vader and the Grand Inquisitor as the main threats. Honestly, they can’t go wrong with Darth Vader. It also makes a ton more sense that he would be pulling the strings as Order 66 has officially been enacted at the end of Revenge of the Sith, and now the remaining Jedi are outcasts. Also, the Grand Inquisitor and the Inquisitors are expert Jedi hunters, so again, this makes a ton more sense than Darth Maul returning. While it would have been amazing to see him return, Maul will just have to let his story remain at its logical end.
