The return of Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story was already a surprising enough moment for audiences, but imagine the shock among viewers if the Phantom Menace Sith showed up looking like the mascot for a metal band.
Lucasfilm concept designer Jake Lunt Davies recently took to Instagram with some early artwork for the character’s comeback, and it seems that both Maul’s hair and his horns could do with a trim. Meanwhile, the villain was apparently going to ditch his old cloak and decide to go shirtless for this Han Solo prequel, showing off the full red-and-black pattern on his body, along with the entirety of his robot bottom half.
If Ray Park had appeared in Ron Howard’s film like this, you can imagine that there’d be some fan debate over whether he was even supposed to be the same guy we saw slay Qui-Gon Jinn back in 1999. But if you think that this design was a departure from the Maul we know, Davies has also shared some Phantom Menace concept art created by Iain McCaig that also exhibits this long-haired look, but with a ghostly pale face. Evidently, we could’ve been thinking about Maul in a very different way all this time.
Speaking of developments that never came to be, the underwhelming box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story ensures that we probably won’t be getting the sequel that Maul’s sudden appearance seemed to tease. Nonetheless, with Lucasfilm continuing to explore new chapters in Star Wars history with its upcoming TV shows, we certainly can’t rule out this fan favorite having some live-action life in him yet, be it on screens big or small.