THR is claiming that among other details, Darth Maul was reportedly cut from the first version of Obi-Wan Kenobi. We know the show was delayed in order for script rewrites to be completed. It was at this point writer Joby Harold replaced Hossein Amini. The trade claims that sources have informed them about some of the changes that were made from that early version and they do seems substantial. However they also say one of their Lucasfilm sources has denied the others claims that Maul was involved. I therefore wouldn’t quite call this fact yet for now, despite it coming from THR.
A Change of Darth’s
According to sources, Chow showed the scripts to Star Wars stewards Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, who were coming off the success of The Mandalorian, freshly launched in November 2019, and deep into work on season two.
Sources note that Filoni and Favreau were concerned about Obi-Wan covering similar ground as Mandalorian — the Lone Wolf and Cub-like story of Kenobi coming out of hiding to protect a child-aged Luke Skywalker. Maul was one of the villains who would participate in the hunt for the pair; Vader was nowhere to be found in this faraway galaxy at this stage, according to those with knowledge of the project. Also, Filoni and Favreau pushed Chow and the show to “go bigger,” according to several sources. In any case, those concerns made their way to Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, who pressed the pause button. (Joby Harold was eventually hired as the show’s new writer.)
It is unclear how far along in the process things initially unraveled. A boy was chosen to play young Skywalker, but no scenes with him were shot. As far as Park’s Maul goes, the picture is more cloudy. One source says Park was on set for pre-production and was also involved in stunt training. The source says footage of Park may have been shot, although another source says it could have been test footage. Whatever the case, Park was back as Maul, or so he believed.
RELATED: Obi-Wan Kenobi SPOILERS Around Vader, Kenobi And More | Barside Buzz
In the overhaul, however, Maul was written out. One source says it was Filoni that conceptually keyed in on a way for Vader to be brought back as the big bad, with the Grand Inquisitor, a character made popular by Filoni in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, also put into the story.
A Lucasfilm source contradicted the account, saying Maul was never intended to return for the series, nor did Park come to set.
The overhaul also led to a new search for a young Skywalker, and a new actor was picked. THR has learned the new Luke is Grant Feely, whose only credit, according to IMDb, is an episode of Creepshow.
Intriguing to say the least. I do think Darth Maul would have been a bit weird considering the finality of the pairs meeting in Rebels. Jointly, away back in 202, and I’m not saying this is definitely related, we heard Park was pushed out because of that social media incident. We had also heard there were plans for a live-action Solo sequel show, which now appear to be instead animated?
We published that article in June 2020, and presumably we were not hearing brand new information, which could line up with the timeline of this story? Could this have been a factor also in changing the scripts? No idea, we have also heard from other outlets that Filoni, Favreau, and a certain Kevin Feige were all involved in giving their opinions to Kennedy on the first script for the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. Feige aside that matches up with the trades information above.
What do you think of the news that Darth Maul was reportedly cut from the first version of Obi-Wan Kenobi? Thoughts below as always.
FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS
Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube!
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
