One of the biggest surprises for fans coming out of Solo: A Star Wars Story was the return of Darth Maul. Played once again by Ray Parks and Clone Wars and Rebels alum Sam Witmer returning to voice the character, it was revealed in the closing moments of the film that Maul led the shady Crimson Dawn criminal organization. Casual fans and non-nerds unfamiliar with the old expanded universe (now known as Legends) and the new Disney canon were shocked to see the doomed, yet visually pleasing Sith apprentice from The Phantom Menace grace the silver screen once more. After all, the last time most of those folks saw Maul he had been cut in half by a young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Fans familiar with the animated series Clone Wars and Rebels already knew that Maul had returned. It’s hard to keep a good Sith down, and Maul is one of the few visceral images from the prequels that no one mocks… except for the fact that maybe he should have stuck around longer. Therein lies the crux of the issue: Maul was too cool to stay dead for long!
Like the best mysteries from a galaxy far, far away, the story of how Maul returned goes much deeper. In fact, the return of Maul can be traced back to the Dark Horse comic books. Maul’s return, while rooted in the Legends expanded universe, does have a comic book connection. Curious fans stumbling out of the theater thirsting for more Maul can find his early “return” appearances, both canon and not, in these books.
“You and I will be working much more closely from now on.”
From his non-canon returns in Star Wars Tales and Visionaries, to his two canon-ish Dark Horse miniseries’ from The Clone Wars, a very much alive and cybernetic Maul has been hanging around your local comic shop for several years now. Of course, don’t limit yourself to reading the comic books simply because they did it first. You owe it to yourself to go back and watch The Clone Wars and Rebels to see where else Maul has showed up post-The Phantom Menace. Death can have little permanence in science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other geek genres, but Maul’s return was handled with style.
A character this cool can’t be so easily dumped down a shaft on Naboo. Unless we’re talking about Jar-Jar. He could be dumped that easily.