Solo. What a ride that film was. As someone who loves Star Wars almost more than I love any one person in my life, it’s not a surprise that I went into the newest installment with excitement. What I did not expect was to walk out of the movie and love it as much as I did. It was fun, adventurous, action-packed, and, of course, full of easter eggs and surprises. Now, I am going to talk spoilers about the movie, so if you haven’t seen it, I 100% recommend that you stop reading this right now because I will spoil the movie for you. Trust me when I say it: you don’t want to be spoiled. Most of this post will focus on one particular scene from the movie. So, I will warn you one final time, if you HAVE NOT seen Solo and DO NOT want to have the movie spoiled for you, turn back now.
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Before going too in depth about what that one scene near the end of the movie means to the future of the movies, I want to first say one thing. For whatever reason, one of my first thoughts when looking at Dryden Vos was Darth Maul. I don’t know why to be honest, but it was. Not that he was Maul or that Maul had given him the scars or anything, I was just reminded of Maul. I literally expected there to be zero connection between the two characters, and definitely not in the movies, but man am I glad that I was wrong. Maul’s return to the Star Wars films is a big moment for several reasons. First, and most importantly, LucasFilm is showing their willingness to bring major plot points from outside of the Star Wars films into the movies. If you’re someone who has been living under a rock for the past 6 years, Darth Maul (who due to no longer being a Sith is just Maul) returned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I won’t give everything about his story in The Clone Wars, just a brief summary here of what his plot is because I highly recommend watching The Clone Wars if you have not already. As a very simple explanation, Maul survived off of his hatred for Obi-Wan and his desire for revenge. In an attempt to garner attention from the Jedi, Maul successfully created a massive criminal empire featuring the Hutts, Death Watch, the Pyke Syndicate, and Black Sun. However, the criminal empire eventually collapsed due to external pressure and Maul was forced back into the shadows. So, Maul dealing with criminal organizations is something that he is not only familiar with, but really good at. Being the leader of Crimson Dawn makes sense for Maul’s character, and it is something that I feel was a very logical addition to the film. The second reason why this scene is important is because it serves as a way to build upon the rest of the anthology films going forward, connecting them without having to make them all direct sequels. I don’t personally want a Solo 2 where Han has to deal with Maul. That wouldn’t make any sense, seeing as Han is a skeptic about the reality of the Force in A New Hope. Instead, I see the events of Solo setting up the future of anthology films by creating a central antagonist for these films: Crimson Dawn.
If we are all to believe the rumors about the future Boba Fett and Obi-Wan movies, I suspect that the criminal underworld, specifically Crimson Dawn, would make for a good antagonist. First, let’s start with Boba Fett. I have a feeling that a Boba Fett movie would focus on the dealings of the Hutt clans and how they deal with Crimson Dawn, whether it be a fragile peace (like what Dryden Vos claims Crimson Dawn has with the Pyke Syndicate) or if the two organizations are rivals, competing against each other for the big jobs. Whatever the case may be, I would not be surprised to see a job that Boba is sent on along some of the classic bounty hunters. Of course they would most likely work Han into the plot in some way, but I wouldn’t see him teaming up with Boba in any way. Is Boba sent to collect a bounty on the head of Qi’ra? Possibly. There is a lot of possible directions that a Boba Fett movie could take, but if the rumors are true, I would not be surprised if Crimson Dawn and Qi’ra played a major part in the movie.
Next, we have the Obi-Wan movie. Now I think most people assumed, prior to Solo, that the movie would focus mainly on Obi-Wan trying to survive on Tatooine, watching over Luke, and maybe providing us with flashbacks about Obi-Wan’s life and interactions between he and Qui-Gon. With Maul being brought back into the films, it seems to me like a great way to create a more interesting plot for Obi-Wan. He already knows about Maul’s existence thanks to The Clone Wars, though I think it would be wise for the writer of the film to include a brief explanation within the film explaining it, but we have also already seen how the conflict between the two men ends, thanks to Star Wars: Rebels. So, could Maul make an appearance in an Obi-Wan movie if we already know how their story ends? It’s unlikely, but not impossible. The relationship between Obi-Wan and Maul culminates in a duel on Tatooine. Now, the duel could definitely be adapted into the film, but the one major problem involved is that Obi-Wan and Maul are not the only characters present. Before the duel, Ezra Bridger (an original character from Star Wars: Rebels) is with Obi-Wan. He plays a major role bringing the two old foes back together, yet there are ways to go about the duel without having Ezra. Option 1 would be to retcon the whole episode of Rebels and change how Obi-Wan and Maul meet for the final time. I in no way am calling for LucasFilm to retcon a story that has already been told in favor of a way to tell it in a movie, but it is an option that I want to bring up because it is one that I expect to see brought up in the future. Option 2 would be to have the duel off-screen, but clearly show that Obi-Wan slew Maul, whether it be by him laying the former Sith to rest or by showing Obi-Wan in possession of Maul’s lightsaber after the duel. Option 3 would be to just have the interaction between Obi-Wan and Maul from after Ezra leaves onward. It would have to have some slight adaptations to make the scene work, but nothing that would change the whole story. There are definitely other options for how to work the scene into the movie, but those are the three that I believe are the most likely paths they take. Unfortunately I do not believe that there is a way to allow the story of Maul’s demise as told in Rebels to be adapted perfectly for a film. Ezra should not be worked into the films just so they can have the duel between Maul and Obi-Wan on the big screen. Things would have to change and it could create some major problems within the Star Wars continuity. Now, there is of course no guarantee that there will be an Obi-Wan standalone movie or that the Obi-Wan standalone movie would focus on Maul, but it seems like too perfect of a story to not tell in a film. I didn’t expect to have this kind of reaction to something that Solo did, but I am happy that I did.
Overall, I think the appearance of Maul in Solo was a good thing. It allows for the Star Wars story to connect with itself more in ways that it hadn’t before, while also giving fans things to look forward to with standalone anthology films in the future. I don’t have the answers to what the future filmmakers will do with Maul, but I do know that there is still a lot of great potential stories to tell surrounding Maul, and I am excited to see where they go. Will we ever see another duel between Obi-Wan and Maul in a film? Possibly. Maul’s appearance has opened up the films to all different characters from the expanded canon (Ahsoka, Thrawn, Aphra, etc.) to make their own appearance, and I think that we can all sit back and enjoy the ride, because I think Star Wars movies will only be getting better from here.
Eamon's Corner 