Star Wars fans slam Darth Maul's surprise return

I have strong feelings about Solo: A Star Wars Story.

In fact, the Joni Mitchell lyric, “Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?” springs to mind.

Solo: A Star Wars Story was a very fun film.

Perfect? Certainly not, but I don’t think recent equivalents like Ahsoka or Obi-Wan Kenobi are particularly any better, yet I’d argue that those projects aren’t seen in the same light.

The issue is that Solo suffered due to franchise fatigue, more so than any major issues with the film itself.

But had it dropped today as a Disney Plus offering, I honestly think fans would be eating it up.

Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover did a fantastic job bringing Han Solo and Lando Calrissian to life.

And Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra and Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett were great new additions to the franchise.

What most upsets me though about Solo: A Star Wars Story’s untapped potential is that Darth Maul cliffhanger that remains unresolved.

Andor is set to premiere its second season very soon.

At the very end of the film, it’s revealed that the real leader of Crimson Dawn, the syndicate Qi’ra works for, is none other than Darth Maul, setting up an interesting new tale for the character.

We already know that Maul survived being sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi; he was healed by Nightsister Mother Talzin, going on to appear in The Clone Wars.

Maul never resurfaced in live-action though after that … until Solo came along.

Clearly, Maul would have played a much larger role in the film’s planned sequel, but that never came to fruition after the project disappointed at the box office.

“Why [did] Disney move on from this?” asked Reddit user RainbowStereo2137. “I hope they address this in the new show about Underground.”

The user is referring to the upcoming Tales of the Underworld which is due to focus on Cad Bane and Asajj Ventriss, so I’m not certain we’ll see Maul make an appearance.

“They weren’t ready to handle that beautiful of a character,” wrote Keroxu_.

“Because they have no idea what they’re doing in the larger scheme of things,” criticised EmbassyMiniPainting.

What I will say is that I think you’ll get a kick out of the criminally underrated Star Wars Outlaws if you did enjoy Solo.

You’ll be able to work alongside Star Wars’ various crime syndicates, including Crimson Dawn with Qi’ra even making an appearance.

Maul is dead by this stage so you won’t stumble into him but it’s probably the closest we’re ever going to get to what Solo’s sequel would’ve felt like.