Sunday, April 28, 2024

Star Wars Concept Artist Says Original Darth Maul Design Terrified George Lucas

darth maul original design

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.

SVG - Darth Maul - Star Wars - Digital Download - Cutting File

The differences between these designs – as subtle as they may have been to the viewing public – are part of the vast detail that made the Star Wars galaxy immediately visually impressive. The individual touches also help the world feel lived-in and individualized. Luke’s was built from the flash attachment of a Graflex 3 cell unit, while Vader’s was made from a different flash attachment – one from a British 3-cell MPP Microflash. Of course, the minutiae of old cameras doesn’t mean much to us these days, but that explains why the two weapons aren’t identically shaped.

The Essentials: How Darth Maul Went From Supporting Villain to Star Wars Icon

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.

Obi-Wan Fights Darth Maul

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While it doesn’t have a unique name, Darth Maul’s lightsaber is sometimes called a saberstaff because of the length the hilt requires to accommodate its dual blades. In Legends, Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber was born out of necessity. He’d been sent to kill Siolo Ur Manka, a powerful Jedi, and found himself physically bested. Instead of trying to win a fight he could not win, Maul relied on his cunning — he retreated to his ship, built two lightsabers and welded them together.

Game developers keep trying to make a Maul story.

Like Maul, Dooku needed a unique weapon that would set him apart from other characters and help keep the franchise fresh. The swanky professionally-crafted-looking lightsabers fit that pitch to a tee. The design phase of The Phantom Menace was on a much larger scale than that of A New Hope.

darth maul original design darth maul original design

Although Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s Phantom Menace lightsabers could be deemed a little standard-issue, the same definitely doesn’t go for Episode I’s other lightsaber – that of Sith apprentice Darth Maul. The saber carried by Ray Park was a thing of beauty, with a sleek longer hilt and two ruddy blades on it. Darth Maul, with his striking red and black face, devilish horns, and wicked double-bladed lightsaber, looked like nothing we’d seen in a galaxy far, far away before. Unfortunately, the script let Maul down badly, and he was despatched pretty quickly, only to be brought back through the power of popularity in the animated series Clone Wars. StarWars.com has shared an extensive oral history of the franchise, which includes comments from concept artist Iain McCaig.

Maul took the first opportunity to betray the Jedi, blinding Kanan with a merciless lightsaber strike to the eyes. The Zabrak escaped the planet in a stolen Inquisitor ship, readying his next move. The Phantom Menace features the Battle of Naboo, during which Maul fights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Maul’s lightsaber skills are impeccable, and he’s able to kill Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan uses advanced lightsaber moves to beat Darth Maul, cutting his lightsaber — and him — in half. Maul and his lightsaber plummet down the reactor shaft, chopped in half and left for dead.

Second Darth Maul Lightsaber Hilt Design

This led to Maul’s battle with Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla, who he dispatched violently and without mercy to assume total control of the planet. Throughout this time, Maul dueled Obi-Wan Kenobi on numerous occasions, and in an act of pure hatred, killed Obi-Wan’s former love, Duchess Satine Kryze. His revenge would prove double-edged, however, as the act created a dark side ripple sensed by his former Master, Darth Sidious.

Maul Revels in His Revenge in Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark – Exclusive Audiobook Excerpt

As it stands, this piece is already twice the length of our average feature (which don’t tend to be short at the best of times), and we haven’t managed to fit quite a few things in. Sometimes, he needs to be a smuggler, so he can use his weapon as a blaster. But when the time comes, he can press a different button and activate lightsaber mode.

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.

In the custody of Ahsoka Tano and the Republic troops, a Mandalorian vault blunted Maul's Force powers so that he could be delivered to the Jedi Council. But with the execution of Order 66 and the clones onboard turned against Ahsoka Tano, her only recourse was to free the powerful former Sith Lord to create a diversion and give her a chance to save herself and her friend, Rex. If you love Star Wars, check out our list of the best sci-fi series, or if you fancy something a bit more magical, we have a guide to the best fantasy movies. Maul is one of the few characters known to have wielded the Darksaber, a rare distinction. Hardcore fans will know that Lucas originally meant for the saga to be a tale from a fictional bible known as the “Journal of the Whills,” but we never got an explanation of the Whills in the film.

He recalled that Maul was described in the script for Episode I as “a vision from your worst nightmare” and McCaig drew from his own fears as he came up with how Maul should look. The result was something so disturbing that George Lucas was horror-stricken upon seeing it. Darth Maul’s new lightsaber is a significant change from the original, with a hooked grip-guard similar to those of the Inquisitors, possibly having been built from the scraps of an Inquisitor’s lightsaber. It still produces two red blades — or perhaps “crimson” is a more apt description, as he takes control of the Crimson Dawn criminal organization while using it. Maul would conceal the hilt with wood, using it like a walking stick in public.

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