George Lucas Planned to Have Darth Maul Become Main Villain Of Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

George Lucas didn’t end up being involved in Episodes VII through XI of Star Wars, but his planned version would have made Darth Maul the main villain. According to Screen Rant, the book Star Wars Archives Episode 1-3 The Prequels that went on sale this week features comments by Lucas in which he explained that Maul would have become the mentor figure for the Dark Side in his planned trilogy.

“Darth Maul trained a girl, Darth Talon, who was in the comic books, as his apprentice,” he wrote. “She was the new Darth Vader, and most of the action was with her. So these were the two main villains of the trilogy. Maul eventually becomes the godfather of crime in the universe because, as the Empire falls, he takes over.”

Lucas continued that Leia would have led the New Republic as they try to defeat the Sith, while Luke tried to rebuild the Jedi Order. He noted, “By the end of the trilogy, Luke would have rebuilt much of the Jedi, and we would have the renewal of the New Republic, with Leia, Senator Organa, becoming the Supreme Chancellor in charge of everything. So she ended up being the Chosen One.”

Lucas initially planned to make an Episode VII before he ended up selling Lucasfilm to Disney. He has not been directly involved in the franchise since. As for Dath Maul, he appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, as well as with a cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story at the end of the film with Ray Park reprising his role and Sam Whitwer providing the voice.