[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/UqMik.jpg?6159[/img:$uid]

October 13, 2011

Star Wars fans felt the shaft in The Phantom Menace when Darth Maul was introduced and quickly killed off — and so did the spiffy-looking Sith lord, who fell to his death after being sliced in two by a lightsaber.

You can't keep a great villain down, though. And that's why Darth Maul will be resurrected this spring, making his grand re-entry into Star Wars mythology in episodes of the Cartoon Network animated series Star Wars: TheClone Wars.

"He is such a dynamic and exciting character," saysDave Filoni, supervising director for Clone Wars. "He made such a huge impression in that first film that when you go back and look at the prequels, you forget he's not in all three."

Before that, the Darth Maul faithful will be able to see him in a new dimension when the 3-D version of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace hits theaters Feb. 10. The trailer will premiere in front of the 3-D release of TheThree Musketeers beginning Oct. 21.

In Phantom Menace, Darth Maul (played by Ray Park) was the silent Sith apprentice to the mysterious Darth Sidious. It was Sidious who would later seduce Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force and turn him intoDarth Vader. Among fans, Maul is considered the coolest Darth since Vader, and many were not pleased at his apparent death in his first and only movie appearance.

Filoni was as surprised as anyone during a Clone Warsstory meeting when Star Wars creator George Lucasasked Filoni to figure out a way to bring Darth Maul back. He had introduced a similar warrior, the powerhouse Savage Opress, in the third season of Clone Wars because of the lack of a Maul-type antagonist.

Opress plays a major role in the return of his "long-lost brother," Filoni says, and fans can expect Darth Maul to reignite his rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Knight who cut him in half.

Filoni expects a strong reaction from fans, but he promises he didn't bring back Darth Maul for a short-lived stunt.

"There's a lot of ground that has not been covered as far as Darth Maul is concerned, so there's a lot of room to grow with him," Filoni says. "It's all balanced with, 'Boy, we've gotta make this really good because this is a really big deal.'"

http://www.usatoday.com/l...50736578/1

The only reason fans have such a hard on for Maul is the same way they have such love for Fett. Cause They didn't have much screen time and no development so fans are free to create whatever backstory they want.

If Maul or Fett had stuck around Lucas would have ruined them, which he now has the opportunity to do.

[Edited 10/13/11 9:31am]