Deborah Chow Confirms ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Will Not Feature Darth Maul

The Sith Lord's story has already been told.

George Lucas Darth Maul Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi

Amidst rumors of the Sith Lord’s return in the upcoming Disney Plus Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow has confirmed Darth Maul will not be appearing.

Since Obi-Wan Kenobi was announced, there has been fan speculation over the potential return of Darth Maul. The Sith Lord was originally cut in two by Obi-Wan in 1999’s Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, before being brought back with a vendetta against Obi-Wan Kenobi in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Ultimately, Maul would then meet his end in a final duel with his lifelong Jedi rival in Star Wars Rebels. However, with Obi-Wan Kenobi taking place between The Clone Wars and Rebels, some have wondered whether Maul could appear in the series.

Reports circulated online apparently confirming early plans for Maul’s inclusion in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Director Deborah Chow has now debunked these rumors though, revealing there had never been any plans for the Sith Lord to appear for as long as she had been involved with the project. Speaking to Total Film, Chow said:

“As long as I’ve been involved, we’ve never had Darth Maul in any of it… Dave [Filoni, creator of The Clone Wars and Rebels] did a beautiful job of telling that story already.”

Deborah Chow also touched on the inclusion of Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi as a deciding factor in leaving Maul out of the story. Talking about the decision to focus on Vader, Chow said:

“With a lot of the legacy aspects, the decision to bring Vader into it was not made lightly. We’re 10 years after Revenge Of The Sith. Where is Obi-Wan’s starting place? What has been important to him in his life? Anakin and Vader are a huge and very profound part of his life. We ended up feeling that he made sense in telling this story. And Vader casts such a dark shadow in this, that to have Maul as well, it might be a little bit much.”

With Maul’s long and troubled history with Obi-Wan Kenobi already well-documented across Star Wars‘ animated shows, it sounds like the production team on the new Disney Plus series felt no need to re-examine the pair’s conflicts. Instead, the series has plenty of pain and guilt between Obi-Wan and Vader on which to focus. While Maul’s live-action future was teased at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story, there is little left to explore between him and Obi-Wan that has not already been explored in either The Clone Wars or Rebels.

Here is the synopsis for Obi-Wan Kenobi:

During the reign of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi embarks on a crucial mission. Kenobi must confront allies turned enemies and face the wrath of the Empire.

Directed by Deborah Chow from Joby Harold’s scripts, the series stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie. The series will also see the return of legendary Star Wars composer John Williams, who scored a theme.

Obi-Wan Kenobi will hit Disney Plus on May 27, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming series, Loki‘s Natalie Holt, and subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: Total Film