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Darth Maul is back inStar Warsin a large way , but his cushion appearance inSolo : A Star Wars Storyshouldn’t be setting up a big showdown in theObi - Wan Kenobimovie . Maul inSolowas a surprising turn , given moviegoers last saw the Sith Apprentice when he was sliced in half by Obi - Wan inThe Phantom Menace . More general Star Wars rooter would be aware that George Lucas himself hadMaul resurrectedinThe Clone Warsanimated series , and that he became a dangerous foe for the heroes ofStar war Rebels . But nobody had ever expected Maul to return to the big screen .
More than a bit of fan service , Maul ’s picture feels like stage set - up . There ’s a sure enough - deliberate line of latitude between Maul ’s innovation inSoloand the Emperor ’s inThe Empire Strikes Back ; both are first glimpsed through sinister holo - images , both stand hooded and in phantasma , and both are truly the real terror . If Darth Vader is terrifying , how dangerous must his Master be ? And if Dryden Vos is a fearsome foe , how much more so is the Crimson Dawn ’s true leader , who Vos venerate so greatly ?
Related:Your Biggest Questions About Maul, Answered
But if this is apparatus , what is it setupfor ? There ’s voltage for a sequel that would devolve to him and Qi’ra ( althoughSolo ’s pitiful loge authority performanceputs that into question ) , as there is also with theBoba Fettfilm . However , the standalone pic that ’s mystify the most Maul hype isKenobi . A picture see at Ewan McGregor ’s Obi - Wan becoming a desert troglodyte has been rumored for twelvemonth and looks to finally be happening soon , and a last face-off with Darth Maul would seem to fit with that . However , as with most thingsStar war , it is n’t so simple .
Maul’s Obi-Wan Kenobi Story Has Already Been Told
As let out onThe Clone Warswill know , Darth Maul survived the Battle of Naboo , and was ultimately transform into a cybernetic warrior . Maul turn up to be a major thorn in the Jedi ’s side during the Clone Wars , when he became leader of a huge criminal conspiracy . unfit still , the former Sith Apprentice combust with a deep desire for payback against the Jedi who had almost kill him - Obi - Wan Kenobi . This became a deep - rooted vendetta , with the two Force - users locked in combat meter and again . The disconnected ending ofThe Clone Warsanimated serial leave Maul ’s tale uncompleted , although it was touched upon in E. K. Johnston ’s novelAhsoka .
But Dave Filoni has never liked leaving a major secret plan thread unresolved . As a effect , Maul returned inStar Wars Rebels , reveal to have been strand on the Sith planet Malachor for years . He examine a absorbing adversary , work as a demoralize influence towards the unseasoned Padawan Ezra Bridger . Finally , in the season 3 episode " The Holocrons of Fate , " Maul received a vision that tell him Obi - Wan Kenobi was still active . His vendetta reborn , Maul assay out the Jedi Master , who by now was living in seclusion on Tatooine . subject came to a straits in the episode " Twin Suns , " one of the most good installment in the entire series ofRebels . It saw Maul successfully cut across Obi - Wan to Tatooine . Kenobi slew Maulwith surprising ease , in a chronological succession that showed how Obi - Wan ’s knowledge , attainment , and even fighting style had evolved .
Related:How Darth Maul Became More Tragic Than Darth Vader
Rebelsshows how Maul ’s blood feud against Obi - Wan add up to an ending : it details how he learned Obi - Wan was still alive ; it explains how he found the Jedi Master ; and it say the last chapter in Maul ’s story , as Obi - Wan polish off him in the desert sands of Tatooine . There ’s no room for a new narrative here ; if Maul were to appear inKenobi , then the film would essentially have to be little more than a giving - screenland adaptation of episodes ofStar Wars Rebels , specifically " Twin Suns . "
Maul’s Final Confrontation Is A Small Part of Obi-Wan’s Story
Meanwhile , as important as Obi - Wan Kenobi may be to Darth Maul , the realism is that Maul ’s final showdown with the Jedi Master is only a small part of Obi - Wan ’s write up . Indeed , that Maul even has a vendetta against Obi - Wan - let alone that the two have clashed after Naboo - is n’t even hinted at in the movies .
For Obi - Wan , this Sith Apprentice is something of a tangent , a distraction . When Maul at long last arrives on Tatooine in " Twin Suns , " the Jedi Master does n’t initially like to reveal himself and fight at all . alternatively , he but watches from the shadows as the dire Maul wanders through the Tatooine desert . It ’s only when untried Ezra Bridger make it , falling quarry to Maul ’s influence once again , that Kenobi steps out of the darkness . By the clock time of Kenobi ’s exile to Tatooine , this blood feud is a one - path affair ; he no longer has any interest in Maul . Rather , Obi - Wan is focus on just one affair - protect the fry he believes to bethe choose One .
That made for a riveting animated sequence . But it does n’t lend itself well to a full movie . The thought of a threat that the zep views with disinterest , and finally despatch with skilful ease , is inimical to a striking film . Obi - Wan ’s desire to remain in hiding , his reluctance to step out of the shadower and actually defend his old enemy , made for a beautiful culmination to Maul ’s narration ; but it plainly would n’t translate into an effective drama on the big screen .
Page 2 of 2:Maul In Kenobi Poses Bigger Star Wars Canon Problems
Obi-Wan’s Not Going To Be Old Enough
It ’s important to remember that , until just two years before the event ofA New Hope , Darth Maul believed his old curse had been slain in edict 66 . If Lucasfilm was to actually adjust the conflict between Maul and Obi - Wan for the freehanded screen , that would signify the film would be set towards the end of the Jedi Master ’s self - impose exile - and that would pose a major problem .
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Ewan McGregor is keen to reprise the persona of Obi - Wan Kenobi , but , while the actor is obviously over a decennium one-time , he ’s still a long way off Alec Guinness , who was in his sixties during the film ofStar Wars . The obvious - and better - approach would be to set the Obi - Wan Kenobi shoot earlier on in the Jedi Master ’s exile ; to explore how he really became the character we met inA New Hope , how he find a stead of counterbalance while subsist on Tatooine . With that in mind , there ’s no actual elbow room for Maul to jibe .
Maul Should Be Better Used Elsewhere
All this is n’t to indicate thatDarth Maul ’s coming into court inSolo : A Star Wars Storyisn’t setup of some kind , nor is it to make a case that Lucasfilm should draw a blank the former Sith Apprentice . The reality is thatSolohas introduced Maul as a criminal mastermind who has headed up a barbarous and ruthless crime corporate trust . We do n’t actually see any of Crimson Dawn ’s atrocities inSolo , but hear reference of them ; of entire worlds tear down by Maul ’s factor , of people living in desperate fear . This is the new context in which Maul , and indeed his new police lieutenant Qi’ra , manoeuvre . And it is this new status quo that deserves to be explored . It would be far more interesting for Lucasfilm to search Maul ’s prison term as leader of the Crimson Dawn , to make him - or Qi’ra - the villain of other films that search theStar Warsunderworld . leave behind Maul ’s ultimate end , and his vendetta , to the animated series that ’s already revealed it .
It ’s possible Crimson Dawn could return inJames Mangold’sBoba Fettmovie . That film will presumptively be set in the meter between the trilogies as well , explore the bounty hunter ’s career in the galaxy ’s criminal Hell . Crimson Dawn could be ideal enemies for Boba Fett , or else - depending on who ’s paying the bill - they could even be his master . This film gift Lucasfilm with a unique opportunity to show just how malign Crimson Dawn really are .
Related:How Solo Sets Up The Boba Fett Spinoff Movie
It seems certain that the dramatic reveal at the ending ofSolo : A Star Wars Storyis intended as apparatus . But , perverse to popular sentiment , Lucasfilm would be far wiser not to use Maul in theObi - Wan Kenobifilm . Rather , he should be reserved for other movies that reveal the unpitying evil of Crimson Dawn , that search just why Maul ’s organization is conceive to be forge with the Empire in the inter - trilogy stop . It ’s exciting to see a classic Star Wars villain return to the big screen , but he needs to be well - used .
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