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When introduced in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul was quickly the stand out character. With his evil demeanor, black and red makeup, and double sided lightsaber, audiences were obsessed with this new Sith Lord. Though he was cut down too early at the end of Phantom Menace, it would be the Star Wars animated shows Clone Wars and Rebels that would give Darth Maul new life and transform him into one of the best villains in all of Star Wars. Without the dedicated time to developing Darth Maul, he may well have been just a flash in the pan.
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I can see him in my mind's eye
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Kenobi. Kenobi! Darth Maul's first appearance in The Phantom Menace might have catapulted the character to instant popularity
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but it was the nuanced, long-form character development that the Star Wars animated shows instilled in him
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that would truly elevate the character. In fact, it would be his journey of resurrection and revenge
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told over Star Wars The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels that would evolve him into one of the most interesting and complicated villains
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ever to grace the stars of the galaxy far, far away. Darth Maul lives
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Formerly Darth. Now just Maul. Darth Maul's creation starts where many seminal Star Wars characters do
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in the art department. Prequel trilogy concept designer Ian McKaig was given a simple remit from Lucas
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Draw your worst nightmare. So he initially drew this, based off of a recurring dream he had of a ghostly dead person's face
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staring at him from a rainy window. Lucas thought this idea was scary, but not intimidating enough
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McCaig went back to the drawing board and produced various drawings, some of which were even inspired by the faces of the prequel trilogies below the line crew
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He ultimately landed on the idea of giving a demon tribal facial tattoos
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and they were off to the races. Played by Ray Park and initially voiced by Peter Serafinowicz
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Darth Maul was the standout character of The Phantom Menace when it debuted in May of 1999
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The character initially filled a role similar to that of Boba Fett in the original series of films
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sparse dialogue, and a keenly physical presence to find the character in the minds of fans at the time
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And much like Boba Fett, he was also dispatched far too soon. Maul's initial outing presented a loyal henchman who was a skilled combatant and force user
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However, this would be just the beginning of the character's almost three-decade history
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As Star Wars fandom re-cemented itself, thanks in no small part to a massive merchandising campaign
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following the reissue of the special editions in 1997 and the prequel trilogy's rollout
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fans began to call out for more Darth Maul. In fact, rumors circulated in the three years between
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Phantom Menace and the 2002 release of Attack of the Clones that the long Clone Wars would feature an army of clone Darth Mauls However this never came to pass Good call my young Padawan Furthermore during the pre cycle of Revenge of the Sith
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Lucas and his conceptual designers were debating a third act reveal that General Grievous was actually Darth Maul
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returned from beyond the grave and seeking revenge. General Kenobi. This possible avenue for Maul's rebirth was also abandoned
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due to it feeling too similar to Anakin's eventual return from the dead
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as an armor-clad half-droid with lung issues. Maul did eventually make an auspicious return in March of 2005, sort of
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He appeared in a non-canonical comic book, Star Wars Visionaries, in a story called Old Wounds
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The comic featured a reborn Maul, now with cybernetic legs, facing off against Obi-Wan Kenobi in an attempt to gain revenge
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The character lay dormant again for another six years, however, Until in 2011, it was announced that he would be brought back to serve as a reoccurring antagonist in the animated series Star Wars The Clone Wars
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Initially appearing in the season 4 finale Brothers, the character is depicted as having a massive robotic spider-like body
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He is found on Lotho Minor where he survived his injuries from Obi-Wan and has been living on rats while building himself a robot body
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Maul's initial characterization is significantly different from what we saw previously. Gone is the stoic, almost mute warrior
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Here, he's wildly unstable, a complete amnesiac not able to recognize his brother
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who's sporadically manifesting bipolar emotional outbreaks. This idea of a criminally insane robo-Spider Maul was quickly abandoned
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From here, Maul's character is firmly retooled. He's fully transformed into a verbose, highly attuned political operator
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Initially, the rebooted Maul's narrative functionality feels a bit clumsy. He's paired up with his long-lost brother, Savage Opress
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as they attempt to go up against Kenobi and Skywalker in a bid for revenge
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Only issue being, the show never really decides if the two Dathomirian Zabrak dark force wielders like each other or hate each other
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There's hints of character development where it kind of seems like Savage Opress wants Maul's approval
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and maybe Maul is just using his brother affection to further his own ends but that never mined or developed in any meaningful way And before you know it Savage Opress is killed by Darth Sidious in the season 5 episode The Lawless
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Remember, the first and only reality of the Sith. There can only be two
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In the animated depiction, the fallen Sith Lord is voiced by Sam Witwer
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Kenobi! As we've hinted at, this version of Maul is significantly different from his original
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incarnation. From his quest for revenge against Kenobi, to his plans to kill Darth Sidious
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to his bid to take over Mandalore, this version of Maul is a shrewd operator and arguably the
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primary antagonist of the back half of the Clone Wars animated show. From his decisions to ally his
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efforts with Death Watch, to pulling in the Pyke Syndicate in order to form the Shadow Collective
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to being deeply involved in the Siege of Mandalore, the animated version of Maul is a master manipulator
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He's constantly making allegiances and then double-crossing people to serve his own ultimate end
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Revenge. Clone Wars really puts in the legwork of evolving Darth Maul
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and builds a significant narrative bedrock for the character over the course of the show
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However, thankfully, Clone Wars learns the lesson that Phantom Menace didn't. As the series drew to a close
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with seven seasons and 133 episodes, they didn't re-kill Darth Maul. The former Sith Lord would be seen again in the TV show Star Wars Rebels
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as an old, broken man who attempts to conscript Ezra Bridger into doing his bidding
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and assisting him in stealing a Sith holocron. Over the course of Rebels, Maul appears in four episodes
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In his final appearance, we see Maul quickly defeated by an older, wiser Obi-Wan
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While at first glance this fight might appear to be underwhelming, further inspection showcases the brilliance of the writing on display
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Despite Obi-Wan initially dropping into his classic Clone Wars era combat stance
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he quickly thinks better of it and chooses to take his master, Qui-Gon Jinn's battle pose
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which serves as a means of honoring those who have come before and also gives him a more serene and defensive position
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Maul sees this and rapidly spins his double-bladed lightsaber and gives Obi-Wan the advantage he needs to defeat him
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This scene says so much about both Maul and Obi-Wan. When Obi-Wan settles into the Qui-Gon pose
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Maul instantly recreates the moves he used to kill Qui all the way back in Phantom Menace It a visual representation of just how little the character has emotionally evolved despite being significantly
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developed over the run of both Rebels and Clone Wars. It's the perfect way to end Darth Maul's
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arc. It shows that despite his keen mind and strategic brilliance, he's still fueled by ego
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and pride, and that overconfidence is what kills him. However, because nothing is ever really over
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in the world of Star Wars, Somehow Palpatine returned. Maul popped up again in 2018's Solo, A Star Wars Story
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In this cameo moment, it set up a continuing thread that would have featured Maul transforming yet again
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this time into an underworld kingpin and mob boss. Kira, you and I will be working much more closely
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Why would Maul's motivation be pivoted from someone obsessed with revenge to a criminal mob boss just in it for the money
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This was done because Lucas' original plans for the sequel trilogy would have heavily featured Maul in a Godfather-esque role
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Tragically, the underperformance of Solo at the box office and Ray Park having some very
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public personal issues has put Maul on the back burner indefinitely. Darth Maul is a perfect example of what can happen when a solid creative team or ingenious
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writer gets his hands on a character that seems to be pretty straightforward. Maul, on his first appearance, is a one-note henchman
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Is he cool? Yes. Does he have the potential to be developed into one of the most fearsome and intimidating
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villains in the Star Wars universe. On the surface, no, not at all. He's basically just like
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any other Bond-esque henchman. He has a distinctive weapon, doesn't say much, and has a cool costume
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That's really all the character had to offer. But when you remove him from the role of Emperor's
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attack dog, you can evolve him into something far more significant. The fact that he was canonically
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in the primary antagonist's shadow gives a greater context to all of his political maneuvering
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strategic gambits, and underhanded ruses. It makes all of his grand displays of power feel
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smaller, as if he's attempting to gain the approval of his father figure. Are his deeds heinous? Yes
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But it's the why behind them that makes the character truly compelling. Darth Maul now has
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his sprawling internal compass. Maul's journey through the stars has been almost as impressive
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as they have been substantial. Here's hoping that the next time a OneNote supporting villain gets
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killed off and then resurrected in the inevitable return of the Star Wars universe, that they're
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developed half as well as Darth Maul