Sam Witwer discusses the return of Maul in future Star Wars content

Sam Witwer discusses Starkiller, Maul, and his future in Star Wars…

In a recent Twitch stream, Sam Witwer, the voice actor for Maul (formerly Darth), revealed that Starkiller from The Force Unleashed nearly made an appearance in Star Wars Rebels. He then elaborates on that in a recent interview with comicbook.com, as well as some juicy details on the future of Maul in the Star Wars story.

"Dave mentioned to me the scene he thought about and that it didn’t quite fit their story. It’s more of an interesting curio than anything. I mean, I always thought of the Starkiller thing as, even when we were doing it, I though of it sort of as a tall tale, because there certainly isn’t anything in the Star Wars movies that suggest that you could yank Star Destroyer out of the sky, and stuff like that."

Witwer then confirms that there is zero chance that we see the Legends apprentice to Darth Vader in Rebels Season 4.

"Rebels is closing out on this fourth season, so I can tell you right now, Starkiller isn’t in Rebels Season Four."

At the time of Season 4, The Inquisitors have been wiped out, where the Empire then shifts gears on their approach to conquering more of the galaxy.

"By the time you get to Episode IV, Grand Moff Tarkin says, you know, “The fire has gone out from the galaxy. You, my friend, are all that’s left of their religion.” Well, that also includes the, any lightsaber-wielding people, all of that is gone by the time you get to Episode IV. So, if you’re following Rebels, the threat has to change to the Imperial Military, and that’s why Thrawn happened."

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

You can definitely tell from his interviews and performance, that Witwer is a hardcore Star Wars fan, which helped him prepare for bringing Maul back to life.

"Part of the preparation for Darth Maul was just being a Star Wars fan."

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There has always been a certain stigma of a character who has multiple actors play them in different eras, but Witwer says that’s a good thing.

"Because Darth Maul has become such an interesting character that I’m sure you’re gonna see other versions of this character later on down the road, be it live action, or animated, or what. Comic books. So I’m just part of a chain, I’m a part of a baton-tossing process."

With Maul’s fate being inevitable, Sam Witwer was happy with the style in which that character was put to rest.

"I’ll be honest. I think if it were, if we had more screen time, there woulda been some more stuff in there."

The encounter with Obi-Wan and Maul showed how both characters had evolved.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

"When Maul sparks up his lightsaber, Obi-Wan does the same thing, but he goes into the Ewan McGregor pose. It’s almost like a reflex. Like, “Oh, I remember how this feels. So when Obi-Wan sparks up the Ewan McGregor pose… in the moment, he goes, “No, no, no, that would be a mistake."

An amazing moment for Star Wars fans who had been waiting for these two to meet, once again, since their last duel in The Clone Wars.

"That was always the mistake I was making with this guy. I’m not that guy any more. I’m not that kid. I’m Alec Guinness,” and then so then he goes into the Alec Guinness pose."

Dave Filoni expertly puts these two characters together on the planet where it all started — Tatooine. And, the different positions Obi-Wan goes through is an homage to the actors who have portrayed him.

"And then, realizing that Maul sort of provoked him into becoming Ewan McGregor for just a moment. There’s a very interesting game of chess that’s being played there, but Obi-Wan does bait him, while at the same time honoring his master and making the declaration that he is now the master, by going into the Qui-Gon Jinn pose."

And then the duel happens. Maul went for the same attack he used to kill Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan was ready, not falling for Maul’s baited move, Obi-Wan finished the duel by quickly defeating his lifelong nemesis.

Photo credit: Lucasfilm

If someone else were to play Maul in an origins movie or some other median, Witwer is more than okay with that possibility:

"If you’re upset because someone else is playing the character at some point, then you’re thinking about it the wrong way. It’s not your character; these are like rentals, and you want to bring … when you take the car out for a spin, you want to bring it back washed with a fresh coat of wax. You want it to look more beautiful than it did when you brought it out"

Next: Starkiller from The Force Unleashed was nearly added to Star Wars Rebels

I believe that Sam Witwer would make a fantastic member of the Lucasfilm Story Group since he knows as much about Star Wars as Leland Chee or Pablo Hidalgo.

For now, we could see Sam Witwer in The Last Jedi, with a cameo as a Stormtrooper, which he cannot confirm or deny at this time. Find out for yourself when The Last Jedi hits theaters December 15, and be on the lookout for Maul in more future Star Wars content.