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Few things have excited Star Wars fans as much as the reveal of Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber — the first of its kind on screen. The hype for Episode I – The Phantom Menace was off the charts, and the lightsaber Darth Maul used contributed immensely to that, as well as the striking image of his horned head and tattooed face. While the character had precious little screen time in the film, he left a lasting impression — and his story has only become more compelling across The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and other stories in Star Wars. For Darth Maul, lightsaber duels only served to satiate his bloodlust and sharpen the blade of hatred that grew within — hate so strong it needed two blades. When the late, great Christopher Lee became the new filmic villain instead, the curved lightsaber idea remained. His weapon was designed to resemble a rapier handle (including that pointy “guard” bit).
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It can be single-bladed or double-bladed, it can rotate around ominously, and it even has handguards. Although The Inquisitor doesn’t duel in every episode, his incredibly original lightsaber is a sight to behold when he does wade into the fight. Arguably, this is one of the most innovative reimaginings of the lightsaber, and it served to make Ventress one of the most unpredictable dueling partners in the Star Wars universe. Darth Sidious must have known that shit was going to go down in Revenge of the Sith – he came prepared with two mini lightsabers. With handles almost as tiny as Yoda’s, both came in handy as the action escalated in the final film of the Prequel Trilogy. Unlike the Original Trilogy, the Prequels waste no time before whipping out their lightsabers.
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Specifically, the curved-hilt lightsaber was introduced in Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon. Qui-Gon’s lightsaber is predominantly black, with silver touches here and there. It has the look of a lightsaber created industrially, as if it might’ve come from a factory. This sense of mystery was heightened with Return of the Jedi, when Luke showed up clad in black robes wielding an all-new lightsaber with a then-unique blade color – green.
Game developers keep trying to make a Maul story.
“You’re going to destroy the franchise; you’re going to destroy everything! ” Lucas explains that he told people at Lucasfilm he was “making a movie that nobody wants to see”, but would rather do that than telling the same story over and over. Star Wars features many stories of young people growing up and finding their true destinies. Luke Skywalker set the example, but Ezra Bridger and Rey followed suit. Maul, on the other hand, is a perpetual apprentice, never able to move past the manipulative relationship Darth Sidious trapped him in. The partnership between Maul and Ezra in Rebels is as much about Maul finding a direction as it is about him giving orders to Ezra.
Darth Maul Was Lucasfilm's "Second Worst Nightmare" - Inside the Magic - Inside the Magic
Darth Maul Was Lucasfilm's "Second Worst Nightmare" - Inside the Magic.
Posted: Fri, 09 Apr 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The issue also features a new Star Wars droid design in the workshop section, new Pod Racer art from Terryl, as well as an interview with Ralph McQuarrie who designed the look of the original Star Wars trilogy. We mentioned her earlier, but Asajj Ventress – one of the main antagonists of the still-considered-canon Clone Wars saga – definitely deserves her own section in any article about lightsabers. Unlike anyone else’s from the films, Palpatine’s lightsabers look expensive and decadent, made predominantly with gold and silver metals. They’re shiny, sleek, and having a spare one means that when you drop one out of a window you’ve always got a back-up. Luke’s shoto-and-a-regular-lightsaber combined technique has since been adopted in video games and The Clone Wars series, but Yoda’s big screen antics remain the most famous use of a shorter lightsaber. Although this is the first time we’d seen a double-bladed lightsaber on the big screen, the idea was around for a while before that in the Expanded Universe.
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Framed Star Wars Darth Vader Luke Skywalker Yoda Darth Maul Lightsaber Wall Canvas Art - Ready to Hang
Lucas says he originally would have explained more about them in the prequels, but decided not to after the poor reception over the midi-chlorians lore. Simply put, Whills are “a microscopic single-celled life-form” that have a symbiotic relationship with the midi-chlorians and who feed on the Force. They gave the command to the midi-chlorians to make Anakin, with Lucas stating he was touched by God, who in this case “happened to be one-celled animals”. When George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, any hopes of seeing how he might have finished the saga went out of the airlock.
The idea of a “crossguard lightsaber” is another that has now jumped from the Expanded Universe into the world of the films. Hollywood legend has it that Samuel L. Jackson picked the color himself, offering to play the role quid pro quo if he could have a truly unique lightsaber to make his character stand out. Sadly, Windu’s arm was chopped off and his lightsaber was never seen again (in the films). It wasn’t just bad guys getting cool new lightsabers in Attack of the Clones. Diminutive Jedi master Yoda also debuted his patented “all the backflips” fighting style complete with a small-handled lightsaber to fit his tiny green mitts. Following in the footsteps of Darth Maul in more ways than one, Count Dooku became the immediate threat for Obi-Wan and Anakin in Attack of the Clones.
Even before Lucas had started the script, his producing partner Rick McCallum was deep in preproduction. He brought in ILM’s art director Doug Chiang, who became the design director for the film. By the looks of it, it must have been made of similar component parts in real life as well as in the film. I’m no expert, but that looks like the balance pipe from a Derwent jet engine parading around as a lightsaber emitter to me. In the Expanded Universe (no longer canon, but still the best answer we have), it’s explained that Obi-Wan left behind a manual on how to build a lightsaber. That nicely fills a narrative hole and explains why Luke’s new lightsaber looks so much like the one Obi-Wan was carrying when he died.
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Its reveal in the film is glorious, as is its usage in battle – it’s first seen as Maul flips over Qui-Gon in a brief duel in the Tatooine desert, and later used to finish him off on Naboo as Obi-Wan watches on powerless. John Williams’ majestic “Duel of the Fates” score helps add to Maul and his weapon’s cool-levels, too. All these ingenious ideas combined to create the original lightsaber, and the reused and recycled nature of the design has always felt incredibly appropriate for the depression-era galaxy of A New Hope. The lightsaber’s incredible sound design was developed by Ben Burtt, who has since gone on to work on Indiana Jones, E.T., and WALL-E (among many other great films).
Since 1997 people have railed against the change in A New Hope where hapless bounty hunter Greedo shoots Han Solo at point-blank range and misses. But Lucas sticks to his blaster and says in the book that this was always the case. “I never designed Han to be a ruthless killer,” he says, “all the good guys shoot in self-defense. The novel Ahsoka opens with a short scene showing some of what Maul was up to around the time of Revenge of the Sith.
Actor Ray Park put on a small, silver earring before sitting down to do the Darth Maul makeup, and only noticed it later. A canonical connection between the Dathomiri witches and the Sith would only be established later on in The Clone Wars, and now continues into the new canon, but the connection was always there in the art. This was confirmed by Bounty Hunter creative director Jon Knoles when he spoke to Screenrant.
It was prophetic, however, as Maul had arrived at the rebel base on Atollon. He came to recruit the Padawan for another ritual, one that would finally reveal the answers they seek. Begrudgingly, the boy and his friends went with Maul to Dathomir, where Nightsister magick gifted them the knowledge that Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive, and he was on Tatooine.
Taschen’s book contains enough concept art to fill an AT-AT, with one of the most intriguing images being an idea for how Anakin would have looked in Revenge of the Sith. Concept illustrator Ian McCaig drew an image of Hayden Christensen in a look that wouldn’t be out of place in a Mad Max movie, with his sleeveless Jedi tunic ripped open to the chest. Anakin’s hair is even more extreme, being shaved aside from a thin mohawk à la Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, with it finishing in a braided ponytail.
Following the rite, Maul absconded to his ship, muttering "He lives!" in delirious excitement. But Maul was resilient, and he survived the war to build an empire of his own as the true leader of Crimson Dawn. After his death, Dryden’s first lieutenant Qi’ra assumed control over the territories, working closely with Maul to continue their rule. Yep, this is definitely closer to the final design that ended up in the film. McCaig also admitted that he had originally drawn feathers on Darth Maul but it was mistaken for horns.
We’ve since heard snippets of what he apparently would have done, but nothing substantial. Maul displays Grievous and Dooku to Sidious so that the Sith Lord can see their failure. For someone who opposed Sidious for years on The Clone Wars, Maul is very quick to show off to him – which makes for a bitter, twisted moment in Maul and Sidious’ long-standing Master-apprentice relationship. What do you think of Komari's look being inspired by Maul's original look? Knoles stated that he wanted Komari's look to reflect the pain that she has been through after she was rejected by Count Dooku who initially trained her.
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