Darth Maul was originally planned for the Disney Plus’ Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Series, but was removed.
Now that the series trailer is out, we learn that the main villains for the series are the inquisitors. We have no qualms of seeing the live action inquisitors. I’m excited to see them in action and to see Obi-Wan fight them in lightsaber combat.
It’s been reported by The Hollywood Reporter that there was a time that the main villain was supposed to be Darth Maul. At this stage, the script still didn’t have Darth Vader.
Hossein Amini was the original writer for the show. Amini is known for movies like 47 Ronin (2013), and Drive (2011). He also made the series McMafia (2018) for BBC One.
Darth Maul Removed From Obi-Wan Kenobi Series
Image: Lucasfilm
In the original script, Obi-Wan was supposed to protect young Luke Skywalker. Darth Maul is one of the villains hunting them. Ray Park, the actor who played Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was even set to return for the role.
But Star Wars franchise heads Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau didn’t like the story mainly because it felt like it was retelling another version of The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s said that they needed to go bigger, and eventually decided to add Darth Vader into the story.
Joby Harold was hired to rewrite. Harold is known for Army of the Dead (2021), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) and did the story of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023). The rewrite removed Darth Maul completely from the story.
Sources said that Ray Park was already in pre-production and was already doing training. Further, there was the possibility shot he already shot footage for the series. However, Lucasfilm sources say that Darth Maul was not planned nor was Park coming to the set for test footage.
Darth Maul Removed From Obi-Wan Kenobi Series
Image: Lucasfilm
I would consider Darth Maul as one of the missed opportunities in Star Wars cinematic history. Just like Boba Fett, a lot of fans liked Maul, but it seemed he was killed off so quickly. He has considerable fanbase even though he appeared mainly only in the Phantom Menace. Maul was slashed in half by Obi-Wan, giving the Sith a very short highlighted moment. At the time, Maul was presumed dead. Then it turns out he survived and he did show up in Solo: A Star Wars story for a very short cameo. A short cameo that only confirmed he survived his fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Darth Maul’s redemption in the Star Wars canon was well told in the Marvel comics and the animated series in both Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Maul died in a one on one duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars Rebels. If you are a fan of Darth Maul, I suggest checking out the comics and the animated series.
It would have been interesting to see Obi-Wan and Maul duel against each other again in live action.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi is scheduled to be released on Disney Plus on May 25, 2022.
