There are many universal truths in Star Wars. Someone’s always bound to have a bad feeling about a situation, the Force will always be with you, and hey, if a character is dead, don’t worry about it — there’s always a good chance they’ll be back in some shape or form. It sometimes seems like the whole Mandalorian era of Star Wars only exists to explain why Emperor Palpatine exists in the sequels. And if not Palpatine, consider characters such as Asajj Ventress and Fennec Shand. Even Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo) had a return planned before Disney rejected it.
However, the master of cheating death is none other than Darth Maul himself. Despite being bisected and hurled down a reactor shaft after a duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, Maul returned a decade later (with a brand-new set of spider legs to boot). He survived by tapping into the power of the Dark Side, but as we like to sum it up: Maul was just too much of a hater to die.
Over the years, Maul has faced many close calls, but it was in the Star Wars: Rebels episode ‘Twin Suns,’ Maul finally met his end at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi — for real this time. Because his final death is already established, we know that the Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord series, which is set earlier in his timeline, will leave Maul (fairly) unscathed.
Yet, we also know that Maul is an incredibly popular character. Maul: Shadow Lord already has a second season confirmed, and the character has had several spin-off comics over the years. Could we get a, “Somehow, Darth Maul returned” in the future?
“You never know,” Shadow Lord executive producer Brad Rau tells Polygon. “We’re just focusing on this one time period right now.”
Maul’s voice actor, Sam Witwer, on the other hand, had his own ideas about what a resurrection of the Sith lord might look like.
“Clone him. Make an army of him. Just do it. Let’s get it over with,” Witwer jokes. “I couldn’t imagine. I did not foresee that Maul would have a show named after him. I never even considered it. If there’s any possibility, that’s Dave Filoni’s purview.”
Anything is possible when you’re in a galaxy as weird and wonderful as Star Wars. But for now, Lucasfilm’s focus is on Maul’s journey to rebuild his criminal empire in Maul: Shadow Lord.
The first two episodes of Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord are available now on Disney Plus. New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays through May 4.