Darth Maul Is My Glup Shitto, and I am Completely satisfied He is Again (Once more)

In 1999, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace launched audiences to Darth Maul. Performed by then-unknown Ray Park, the red-and-black Sith was outlined extra by aura than the rest: he had little or no dialogue, however he appeared cool as hell and appeared nice in his one combat scene. Whether or not you had been simply coming into Star Wars or excited for the franchise’s first film in a long time, he appeared poised to be a scene-stealer.

After which… he acquired reduce in half, his bisected halves falling down a veeeeeeeeery lengthy gap. Some comics performed round with the concept of him coming again, and he was referenced in video video games, however in any other case? Only a blip on the radar when it got here to the bigger Prequel narrative establishing Anakin Skywalker’s descent into Darth Vader. We seemingly wouldn’t be speaking about him as we speak, however then Star Wars: The Clone Wars went and introduced him again. In a number of months, he’ll headline his first solo tv undertaking in Maul—Shadow Lord, set between his closing (plural) look in Clone Wars and his eventual resurgence in Star Wars Rebels.

Like in Large Two comics, demise’s all the time been a little bit of a humorous factor in Star Wars, with many a personality coming again after it appeared like we noticed the final of them. In the case of the present period of the franchise, which itself technically started within the episodes of Clone Wars, Darth Maul is floor zero or near it. Halfway by means of the present’s third season in 2011, audiences had been launched to Savage Oppress, Maul’s brother and successfully a reskin with a lighter pores and skin tone. What initially appeared like a extra fleshed out model of the lifeless Darth and a captivating antagonist in his personal proper turned out to be a stealth operation to convey again the precise Maul the next season.

Over the remainder of Clone Wars’ and later Rebels, Maul finally ends up surprisingly involved within the state of the galaxy and characters like Obi-Wan and Palpatine come Revenge of the SIth and the Unique Trilogy. In quite a lot of methods, it seems like a flex on behalf of Dave Filoni and George Lucas: not solely does Maul get to come back again, he’s allowed a number of rematches with the person who ruined his life, throws in with the Mandalorians and turns into against the law lord along with his brother, and is conscious of Anakin’s significance. That Maul’s up-to-date on the lore of Star Wars and will get to have all this occur to him can be eye-rollingly dumb (and in some instances it’s) if it weren’t for a small, however key fixed of his characterization: Star Wars by no means forgets to remind you that from his first look as much as his final, he’s a loser.

An issue with a number of once-dead, now returned characters like Boba Fett and Ahsoka is that the forces concerned are conscious they should look cool to justify bringing them again. They’re inherently booked to be superior and are available out on high on the finish of the day, and any time they’re not posing for an motion shot is simply lifeless air with glints of potential. Thankfully, Darth Maul doesn’t have this drawback as a result of there’s a level of self-awareness in every little thing surrounding him. He looks great in fights and he’s acquired followers, however he’s removed from a load-bearing pillar, even when he’s being positioned as such. When it comes to screentime, he’s solely in three of the various arcs that make up Clone Wars and in 5 of Rebels’ 75 episodes.

If something, Maul’s appearances throughout each reveals underline how his continued survival solely comes as a result of he retains getting into different characters’ orbit: each time he face off with Obi-Wan ends in defeat, and the one particular person he can utterly relate to is a 16-year-old he’s tried manipulating twice. He acquired his brother killed as a result of they had been each too loud for Palpatine to disregard, and he himself dies in the arms of the person he spent years fixated on, whose identify he shouted into the limitless desert like a scorned lover after doing a Shakespearean monologue to himself. Maul’s not a lot the hero of his personal story as he’s somebody seeking to get again into others’ so he can warrant his personal point out within the wiki. The tragedy and hilarity of his character is how a lot he fights to matter and doesn’t see how he’d be higher off not mattering within the grand scheme of issues.

All of that’s to say that Filoni and firm have spent years figuring out that Maul sucks, placing a wonderful stability between making him well worth the return whereas nonetheless punching him down each from time to time to humble him. (He will get thrown off the ledge by a man he blinded two minutes earlier, for crying out loud.) However therein lies the query with Shadow Lord: on a “new for the franchise” planet filled with criminals, cops, and a possible apprentice to tackle, can the Maul we’ll see there gel with the Maul we’ve seen get crushed down throughout two reveals within the 2010s? Will he preserve his loser vitality or get some sort of proverbial glow up as he tries to turn into against the law lord?

We’ll discover out when Maul—Shadow Lord hits Disney+ on April 6.

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