Pablo Hidalgo Debunks Early Versions of the 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Series Featuring Darth Maul as "Key Villain"
Hubba, Hubba, Hubba, who do you trust? Seriously, when it comes to Star Wars news now, who/where do you trust? See, I look at sites I trust due to their credibility, sites such as SlashFilm, Variety, Cinemablend, Collider, Entertainment Weekly, and The Hollywood Reporter. And now I have a little bit of doubt, the worst kind of doubt. The little whisper at the back of your head kind of doubt.
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that early versions of Obi-Wan Kenobi were meant to feature Darth Maul as a key villain in the scripts penned by Obi-Wan Kenobi's original writer Hossein Amini that Ray Park was to reprise his role as the Sith Lord. Though this was scrapped after a creative overhaul replacing Maul with Vader. However, Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo weighed in on this over on his private Twitter account in a tongue-in-cheek way, debunking the report from The Hollywood Reporter. Stating the following:
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A paraphrase of Legolas' quote from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, "A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night." But Pablo didn't tiptoe around it, claiming the story false.
Now let's jump back to The Hollywood Reporter article, as there are multiple splits to the story. As they report from four different sources on Maul. So let's break them down one at a time:
1. Source 1 says that Ray Park was on set for Pre-Production and was involved in the stunt training. This source continued saying that footage of Park may have been shot.
2. Source 2 says that this footage of Park could have been test footage. And that he believed Maul was back.
3. Source 3 says it was Filoni who was conceptually keyed for Darth Vader to return as the main villain in the series and the Grand Inquisitor from Star Wars: Rebels.
4. Source 4 (not Pablo, mind you), which The Hollywood Reporter states as a "Lucasfilm source," contradicts the other 3 sources, saying that not only was Maul never intended to return for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but Ray Park never came to the set.
It's all over the place, from he was meant to be in it to he never was. So what do we know then?
In August of 2019 (a different world back then) during D23, it was announced that Ewan McGregor would be returning to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in his own series and that the scripts were locked in that they'd start shooting the following year. In January of 2020, it was announced that the series was being put on hold and that Lucasfilm was looking for a new writer for the series. A further three months later, in April of 2020, pre-production started up again with a new writer, Joby Harold, at the helm. As the original writer, Hossein Amini's scripts covered similar ground to that of The Mandalorian.
Now sites such as The Hollywood Reporter and Cinemablend address Hossein Amini's scripts that The Mandalorian Producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni raise concerns about the Kenobi series being too similar to their show telling the Lone Wolf and Cub-like narrative. Jon and Dave encouraged the Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow to "Go Bigger" with her series. Kathleen Kennedy took on board Jon & Dave's concerns which resulted in Obi-Wan Kenobi being put on hold from January to April 2020.
To add to this, the original scripts from Hossein Amini were described as "bleak." Thus another reason for the overhaul. With Kathleen Kennedy stating:
"We're looking ultimately to make a hopeful, uplifting story. And it's tricky when you're starting with a character in the state that Obi-Wan would be coming from since Revenge of the Sith. That's a pretty bleak period of time. You can't just wave the magic wand with any writer and arrive at a story that necessarily reflects what you want to feel."
From a canon point of view, the inclusion of Maul in Obi-Wan Kenobi as the "big bad" doesn't make sense. Kenobi is set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. As with Solo: A Star Wars Story, most Kenobi is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. So it's a good guess that Maul is still in charge of Crimson Dawn at this time. During this time, Maul has no idea that Kenobi is still alive. Not until 2 years before A New Hope in Season 3 of Star Wars: Rebels does Maul discover that Kenobi lives. Thus resulting in their final showdown in "Twin Suns." Ending Maul's story.
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Source(s): Pablo Hidalgo, Cinemablend, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter