Plenty of photos and a trailer came out for the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series last week. One of the things those pictures and footage revealed were the three villains for the limited series: Inquisitor Reva, the Grand Inquisitor, and Darth Vader. However, according to sources at THR, Darth Maul was originally going to be the villain of this Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, and the script also would have featured a young Luke Skywalker in a more prominent role.
As previously reported, Hossein Amini was the original writer for the series, but Lucasfilm ultimately decided to go in a different direction and hired Joby Harold to rewrite it. Kathleen Kennedy recently implied that the reason for the rewrite was to make the series feel more “hopeful,” which inspired some concerned responses. However, this new report suggests the reasons go deeper than that.
Amini had allegedly included Darth Maul as the villain in his Obi-Wan Kenobi TV scripts, in addition to including a “Lone Wolf and Cub-like” relationship between Obi-Wan and young Luke Skywalker. Series director Deborah Chow showed these scripts to Star Wars franchise caretakers Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, and the two apparently worried that it sounded too much like a retread of The Mandalorian, which had by then launched on Disney+. The Mandalorian and Grogu certainly already had that surrogate father-son relationship going on by then.
One source believes it was Filoni that conceived a new version of the story that allowed for Vader and the Grand Inquisitor to become villains. Filoni and Favreau also allegedly encouraged Chow to “go bigger” with the story.
So the Disney+ show ultimately pivoted, and Darth Maul was cut from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Although, it’s not clear how impactful Darth Maul even would have been if he had stayed, since Star Wars: Rebels already wrapped up his story with Obi-Wan. However, THR sources believe Maul actor Ray Park was actually involved in the Disney+ series at one point, maybe even filming some test footage. Meanwhile, a Lucasfilm source rejected the entire idea that Darth Maul had ever been considered for the series.
The THR report further clarifies that the young Luke who was ultimately cast is for a different role than what the original scripts called for. The young Luke who appears in Obi-Wan Kenobi is reportedly Grant Feely, who has a single filming credit to his name at present (Creepshow).
Let us know if you would have preferred Darth Maul in the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series or if you like the current trio of Inquisitor Reva, the Grand Inquisitor, and Darth Vader.
