The Han Solo prequel featured a few cameos, but nothing could prepare fans for a certain Star Wars villain return right at the end. Many fans understandably expected Jabba the Hutt or Boba Fett to appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story, however, the surprise cameo in director Ron Howard’s film is reserved for another antagonist from the franchise, Darth Maul.
Darth Maul, of course, was introduced in 1999’s The Phantom Menace. The renegade Sith Lord was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi in, but saw his storyline continue in The Clone Wars and Rebels CGI TV series. Now, Solo brings together Maul’s live-action and animated history for the character’s return to the big screen. But just who was playing Darth Maul this time around?
He’s portrayed physically by Ray Park, who originated the role in 1999’s The Phantom Menace. However, Peter Serafinowicz, who voiced the Sith Lord in Episode I, did not return and the character was instead voiced by Sam Witwer, who continued as Darth Maul across animation and video games, from The Clone Wars to Star Wars: Battlefront II to Rebels.
Of course, while Maul was a formidable presence in The Phantom Menace, his time his screen was relatively limited, pitting him twice against Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he ultimately kills before himself falling in a lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The Clone Wars, the animated series set between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, expanded upon Maul’s backstory before revealing he’d survived the fight with Obi-Wan. He takes on his own apprentice, begins to build a criminal empire, and emerges as a potential rival to his former master, Darth Sidious. Maul’s plans, however, failed.
The next we saw of him was in the Star Wars Rebels series, set during the reign of the Empire and the founding of the Rebel Alliance. He was living stranded on the planet Malachor, where he formed an unlikely bond with the Jedi trainee Ezra Bridger and attempted to turn him into his new Sith apprentice before he’s eventually is confronted by Obi-Wan again. Maul fares about as well in this duel as he did in there first, and dies in Obi-Wan’s arms.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is out in cinemas now.
