George Lucas’ Star Wars universe is filled with a wide array of complex and intriguing characters. Despite the mixed reception of the prequel trilogy, it is largely remembered for the various interesting character designs, especially for villains that Lucas and his team of concept artists had derived.
However, according to a report, Lucas almost planned to combine two of these iconic villains in a crazy twist that would have changed the galaxy far, far away forever. According to Henry Gilroy, who has extensively worked on the animated Star Wars shows, Lucas planned to resurrect Darth Maul as one villain introduced after The Phantom Menace. Here is everything you need to know about Lucas’ initial plans for Maul.
George Lucas Almost Resurrected Darth Maul as General Grievous in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Darth Maul was first introduced by George Lucas in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, with the character meeting his demise at the end of that film. However, Lucas has admitted to regretting killing off the character too soon and reportedly had plans to revive him, but with a twist.
During an interview with /Film, writer Henry Gilroy who has worked on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels revealed how Lucas originally planned to revive Maul. According to Gilroy, Lucas wanted to bring back Maul as the organic half of General Grievous.
It made sense. He’s cut in half, and he’s in this robot body or whatever. I thought it was interesting that the concept guys almost talked George into that.
Gilroy made the above statement explaining how Lucas would have explained the twist of Grievous being a resurrected Maul during the events of Revenge of the Sith, which marks the former’s live-action debut. However, Gilroy also expressed relief over Maul remaining a separate character as his return and backstory were later elaborated upon in the animated shows.
Star Wars Concept Artists Toyed With Various Ideas Before General Grievous’ Final Design
Gilroy’s claims about Lucas wanting to reveal Maul being behind Grievous’ armor align with the conceptualization of Grievous. In an issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine, Lucasfilm’s concept design supervisor Ryan Church revealed that the creative team played with various ideas while designing the character.
Church stated that the team of artists initially struggled to balance the mechanical and organic elements of Grievous’ design following Lucas’ initial brief. He stated:
We didn’t want to go anywhere they had gone before in Star Wars or Terminator or Robocop – all of which could have influenced the design.
Church’s comment combined with Gilroy’s statement implies that the decision not to base Grievous’ design on any of the preexisting characters from the franchise may have led Lucas to drop the idea of the Darth Maul reveal. Ultimately, the concept artists’ efforts paid off as General Grievous’ cyborg look with hints of organic life proved to be an extremely popular design.
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