Source: StarWars.com | EW | Posted By: Dan Geer
Last March, Lucasfilm announced that Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace would be converted to 3-D and released on February 10th, 2012 (providing that it proves successful enough at the box office, the remaining films will also be converted to 3-D and released some time later). Starting next week on October 21st, Star Wars fans can check out a glimpse of it in a new trailer attached to the 3-D release of Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers!
Also, while it is not really news to people who watched Season 3 of Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it has been made truly official that Darth Maul, the Sith apprentice that supposedly met his demise at the hand of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace, will be resurrected for an appearance in The Clone Wars next spring! Hit the jump for details on his return, as well as a look at the new poster for Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D!
Regarding Darth Maul’s resurrection from the dead in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (via EW.com):
“I found it funny in The Phantom Menace when Darth Maul got cut in half,” Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni says. “I thought George was definitively saying to the fans, ‘There’s no way this character is coming back. This is not a Boba Fett/Sarlacc Pit situation where, because of fan love, Boba gets out of that thing any number of ways.’ Fast-forward ten-years, and I’m the one to bring Maul back.”
Well, mostly. Filoni acknowledges that the order to resurrect the Sith Lord came from George Lucas himself, who became more interested in his Phantom Menace creation while developing Savage Opress for the last season of The Clone Wars. Awesome as Maul was in the movie, he barely got to do anything before the old chop-chop. When asked if Maul’s return is motivated by the feeling that he was underutilized in The Phantom Menace, Filoni says, “I think in part.”
Filoni’s biggest challenge, though, will come from the legions of fans ready to shout “No way!” at the very idea of a Maul return. But addressing the (un)believability of his survival could make for some interesting drama. “First of all, how does he survive getting cut in half?” says Filoni. “Plus, he fell! And also, don’t forget Obi-Wan Kenobi is still around, so I’m sure Maul wouldn’t be very happy with him.”
Fans will note that there is precedent for this kind of resurrection. “The Dark Side of the Force is the pathway to many abilities some consider to be…unnatural,” Darth Sidious says in Revenge of the Sith. Sidious and his master found a way to use the Force to cheat death—that’s how he was able to keep Vader alive after that little swan dive into a lava field. Couldn’t Maul have picked up on some of that too? Says Filoni, “He’s suffered through a lot to keep himself alive and implemented the training of his master to do so.”
Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars were teased of Maul’s return when his brother, Savage Opress, saw an image of him in a Crystal Ball last season. It appears that the Sith Lord’s return will be some time toward the end of Season 4 next spring.
I, for one, am incredibly excited for this, since we now have no idea where Maul’s story could go. For over a decade, most of us considered him dead (he’s been resurrected in novel form), and now a whole new can of worms has been opened to turn that perception right on its head!
Head on over to EW for the rest of the article. You can also check out a sizzle reel for Darth Maul’s return below, as well as the new poster for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 3-D!
Click the image below for a larger view:
So, why is Yoda staring at Maul’s butt? And where is Qui-Gon, Padme and Anakin? Honestly, while I’m excited for this release, it seems like they could have done slightly better with this poster…
