Warning: There are massive spoilers ahead for Solo: A Star Wars Story!
Solo: A Star Wars Story was billed as the untold origin of Han Solo and Chewbacca, with a dash of Lando Calrissian for added flavor. But that trio of Star Wars legends weren’t the only familiar faces to make an appearance during the movie. While many fans expected Boba Fett or Jabba the Hutt to show up, Lucasfilm pulled off an even bigger surprise by bringing Ray Park back as Darth Maul for the first time in live-action since The Phantom Menace. Today’s Nerdist News is slicing through the rumors to examine what Maul’s return could mean for the standalone Star Wars films.
Join host and one of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, Jessica Chobot, as she brings everyone up to speed on Maul’s status quo. As far as casual movie fans were concerned, Maul was killed off almost two decades ago, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars refused to waste a great villain, and revealed that he never actually died. Sam Witwer was cast as Maul on The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels; and he also provided Maul’s voice during his Solo cameo.
During The Clone Wars, Maul assembled and lost a criminal empire known as the Shadow Collective. But apparently Maul really liked that idea, because in Solo, he’s the head of Crimson Dawn, another powerful criminal syndicate. If a Solo sequel materializes (and that’s a big if), we could see a crime war between the Hutts and Crimson Dawn for control of the underworld. It also implies that a Maul vs. Darth Vader dream fight is once again a possibility.
However, we already know how Maul’s story ends. By the time of Rebels, Maul has once again lost everything and become even more desperate. That implies Crimson Dawn was either destroyed, or someone managed to push Maul out of power. If so, we suspect Qi’ra might have something to do with that. Rebels also depicted Maul’s death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which suggests that he won’t be getting killed off in live-action again without violating the current canon. Still, it’s good to have Maul back!
Are you excited about the possibilities presented by Maul’s return to live-action? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm/Marvel Comics
More on Solo!
- Talking to Solo‘s costume designers about Lando’s many capes
- Solo explains Han’s lucky dice
- 6 reasons Chewbacca was the MVP of Solo
