In a little over two months time, Star Wars fans will reunite with Ewan McGregor’s version of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. The six-episode Obi-Wan Kenobi is the next of the Star Wars shows on the docket for Disney+, and along with its title character facing off against Darth Vader again, last week’s trailer also showed how he’ll cross paths with various Inquisitors, including The Grand Inquisitor, the main villain from Star Wars Rebels Season 1. However, word’s come in that in an earlier version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, McGregor’s character would have clashed with Darth Maul instead.
This revelation comes from THR, which has shared that Darth Maul was included in the scripts penned by Hossein Amini, the original writer attached to Obi-Wan Kenobi. This version of the Disney+ series would have seen Obi-Wan coming out of hiding to protect a child-aged Luke Skywalker from various villains, with Darth Maul among the hunters. Furthermore, Darth Vader, a.k.a. Obi-Wan’s former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, wouldn’t have appeared in the show.
That plot was scrapped after The Mandalorian’s Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni looked at Hossein Amini’s Obi-Wan Kenobi scripts and expressed concern that the series was following too closely in The Mandalorian’s footsteps by telling a Lone Wolf and Cub-like story. The men also encouraged director Deborah Chow to “go bigger” with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story, and by the time Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy learned about Favreau and Filoni’s concerns, she decided to halt the Disney+ series pre-production so it could go through a “creative overhaul.” Joby Harold later succeeded Amini as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s writer, and that paved the way for the show that people with a Disney+ subscription will get to watch soon.
Going back to Darth Maul, there are conflicting accounts about how much Ray Park, who physically portrayed the character in The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story, became involved in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s development. One source says Park was on set for pre-production, did some stunt training and even shot some footage, though another source says this could have just been test footage. A separate Lucasfilm source even claimed that Maul was never intended to return for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Whatever the case, Darth Maul was removed from the Obi-Wan Kenobi equation, with a source saying that it was Dave Filoni who came up with a way to include Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader and The Grand Inquisitor, the latter of whom he created. Personally, I’m glad that we didn’t get another Maul vs. Obi-Wan showdown in this Star Wars series, as it would have undercut their final battle in the Star Wars Rebels Season 3 episode “Twin Suns,” as seen below.
It is worth mentioning that while Obi-Wan Kenobi will not involve the main protagonist protecting young Luke Skywalker from various rogues, we will still see a younger version of Mark Hamill’s Star Wars character in the series. That said, the original actor chosen for Luke during the Darth Maul era never shot any scenes, and he was later replaced by Grant Feely, who’s previously appeared in an episode of Creepshow. Along with Hayden Christensen, Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse reprising their respective roles from the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s cast includes Moses Ingram, Indira Virma, Rupert Kang, Kumail Nanjiani, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Simone Kessell, Benny Safdie, Maya Erskine and Rory Ross.
Obi-Wan Kenobi will premiere on Disney+ May 25, the 45th anniversary of A New Hope’s release. As always, CinemaBlend will keep fans of a galaxy far, far away on the latest and greatest news concerning upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
