While the fall of Anakin Skywalker might have the greatest impact on Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films, the supplemental outings have firmly placed Darth Maul as his greatest rival. A beloved character since his debut and one that plays a noticeable role in the story of the Master Jedi, so many expected that he might make an appearance in the upcoming Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fans who wanted to see the character's return to the series will be disappointed as a new report is confirming that the Dathomirian warrior will be absent from the show.
The report comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which has sources telling them that Maul was meant to return as a key player in the series with Ray Park, the actor who portrayed the character in 1999's The Phantom Menace, slated to reprise his role. The series was paused in January 2020 after Lucasfilm was apparently unhappy with the script penned by Hossein Amini. Sources tell THR that the original version of the story saw Kenobi coming out of hiding to protect a young Luke Skywalker with Maul being one of the villains set to pursue the pair. It is also said that the since-announced return of Darth Vader was not in this version of the script.
The report says that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau looked over this version of the script and told Amini and series showrunner Deborah Chow to "go bigger," voicing their concerns that the story of an aged Kenobi protecting a young Luke would be too similar to the relationship between Din and Grogu's relationship in The Mandalorian. Eventually, these concerns made their way to Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, who put the whole project on hold. Amini left the project with Joby Harold being brought on as the writer.
After the overhaul, it is said that it was Filoni that was able to work out a way to get Vader to play a key role in the story with the Grand Inquisitor, a character that was present throughout his Star Wars Rebels series and featured prominently in the series' first trailer, playing key roles as antagonists. One source says that Maul was on set during pre-production and might have had some scenes shot, though some claim that it might have simply been test footage. This report is contradicted by another source from Lucasfilm, however, who says that Maul was never set to return to the series at all. The overhaul also saw a new actor cast as a young Luke Skywalker, which THR is reporting is Grant Feely.
Since his debut in 1999, Darth Maul has always stuck with fans as one of the coolest characters presented in the Star Wars canon. From his distinct look to his double-sided lightsaber, he was someone who stood out in the prequel trilogy and received even greater development in the years to follow. He made his official return to the franchise in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, hellbent on getting revenge on Kenobi for what happened at the end of The Phantom Menace. He returned in the sequel series Star Wars Rebels and made a cameo appearance in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, again being reprised by Ray Park with Clone Wars voice actor Sam Witwer providing his voice.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to be released on May 25, 2022, the 45th anniversary of the character’s first appearance in the original 1977 Star Wars film.