Darth Maul first appeared in The Phantom Menace and according to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Ray Park was in prep mode to reprise the character for Disney+’s upcoming Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, during a “creative overhaul” those scenes involving the antagonist were ultimately scrapped, which reportedly occurred when other villains like Darth Vader were added to the project.
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THR’s sources note that series director Deborah Chow gave The Mandalorian’s Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau were given early scripts and the duo was “concerned” that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be “covering similar ground” as The Mandalorian. Hossein Amini worked on the original drafts for the six-episode series before Lucasfilm press paused on the series in 2020 reportedly from being unhappy with the scripts.
The sources shared that originally, the story centered around Kenobi coming out of hiding to protect a young Luke Skywalker, with Darth Maul acting as one of the villains hunting them down; Vader was reportedly not initially involved. Filoni and Favreau apparently encouraged Chow to “go bigger” with the series, before the creative overhaul removed Darth Maul entirely and a boy previously chosen to play the child-aged Luke Skywalker was replaced with Grant Feely.
As far as Maul, the outlet reports that one source said Park was on set for pre-production and stunt training and that footage may have been shot, with another source saying it could have been test footage. Apparently, a Lucasfilm source said Darth Maul was never intended to return for the show.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi will see the return of Ewan McGregor to the Star Wars universe as he reprises his iconic role as the titular Jedi master, which he famously portrayed in George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. It also features the return of fellow Star War alums Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars.
“The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader,” reads the official synopsis. The series will debut on May 25.
