Solo: A Star Wars Story was pitched to audiences as a look into the early life and times of
Han Solo.
But Star Wars fans got a lot more of the history from the world around Han than they might
have been expecting, and nothing was more unexpected than the return of Darth Maul.
While Maul's appearance didn't have much of an effect on Solo's story, it suggests huge
implications for the way the Star Wars saga will unfold down the line.
Let's break down what Darth Maul's appearance in Solo means for the future of Star Wars.
Criminal circle
The most direct plot consequence of Darth Maul's return has everything to do with his
new day job: Running a criminal enterprise.
In Solo, Maul is the shadowy leader of the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, with Dryden
Vos and Qi'ra near the top of the organization's hierarchy.
Other than Crimson Dawn, the galaxy plays host to groups like the Mandalorian Death
Watch, the Hutt Clan, and the Pyke Syndicate, with the Pykes facilitating the smuggling
of spice out of Kessel.
The other two organizations have ties to very familiar Star Wars characters, the Mandalorian
Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt, both of whom eventually end up having dealings with Han
Solo.
Considering that a Boba Fett movie is in the making and a Jabba appearance is clearly set
up by the end of Solo, the intersecting crime syndicates appear to be an ideal way to connect
the different Star Wars stories back into a larger world, with an underground criminal
web pulling the sprawl together.
Everything is connected
For fans who only watched the movies, Darth Maul has long been out of the picture.
Obi-Wan Kenobi cut him in half, and then both pieces of him fell into the unknown depths
of Naboo.
But as his appearance in Solo indicates, the movies aren't all that matters anymore.
While tons of Star Wars lore outside of the main series of films was jettisoned after
Disney purchased Lucasfilm, Darth Maul remained in the animated, canonical Clone Wars.
He survived his thrashing at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi thanks to the force of the
Dark Side.
Maul ended up being transported to a trash planet, where he passed the time by constructing
himself a set of robot spider legs.
Maul went on to become a pivotal character in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated
TV series, as well as its follow-up, Star Wars: Rebels.
While those shows have been canonical as far as Disney is concerned, few characters who
have spent so much time on the small screen have returned to the big one, until now.
The fact that Maul's story is now being folded back into the movies has huge implications
for the rest of the Star Wars canon.
Suddenly, all the characters from Disney's Expanded Universe feel like fair game to get
called up to the movies' major leagues, and that's never really been a possibility before.
Versus Obi-Wan
Maul's appearance in Solo won't necessarily be explored in a Solo sequel.
After all, Han Solo and Darth Maul aren't known for their dealings together.
Maul's real nemesis, of course, is the man who chopped him up in the first place, Obi-Wan
Kenobi.
Maul's quest for vengeance against the self-exiled Jedi dominated his story in Star Wars: Rebels,
which canonically takes place several years after the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
That quest for revenge comes to fruition in the Star Wars: Rebels episode "Twin Suns,"
with Maul finally tracking down Obi-Wan on Tatooine.
Their duel doesn't end well for Maul, with Obi-Wan dispatching him almost effortlessly.
But even though we know where Maul's story ends up, there's still a lot of story left
to tell, with years' worth of gaps to fill.
With a potential Obi-Wan movie on the horizon, could Maul's story continue in that film?
Rumors indicate that the Obi-Wan movie is currently in pre-production, scheduled to
be filmed after Episode 9 wraps.
It's all subject to change, but it feels compelling.
Crime lord or not, Maul doesn't really belong in a Solo sequel, not as much as Jabba and
his people, or the bounty hunter Boba Fett.
But an Obi-Wan movie is a perfect fit, and may be where we can expect Maul's story to
properly pick up next.
Magical new worlds
At the conclusion of Solo, Maul summons Qi'ra to come and meet with him on his home planet
of Dathomir, a world previously unseen on the big screen.
Dathomir has played host to a number of malevolent Force users, not Jedi, not Sith, but something
in between.
Along with his brother Savage Opress, Maul was raised on the planet by a society called
the Nightsisters, Force-sensitive witches who used Dathomir's strange energies to wield
potent magic.
The existence of wizardry on the fringes of the Force is an aspect of Star Wars that's
remained relatively unexplored in the movies, where any mystic character has typically been
either a Jedi or a Sith.
But in the Expanded Universe, the Force is more like a spectrum.
For one thing, there's the existence of Gray Jedi who draw from both the light and dark
sides of the Force.
Additionally, the Force-sensitive Chirrut in Rogue One also broadened our understanding
of how the Force manifests.
Maul's story could further that developing understanding in the movies.
His home world would be a perfect venue for expanding Star Wars' presentation of the mystical,
adding some mystery back to the Force by demonstrating that it's not always as simple as a light
side and a dark.
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