Ray Park Wanted To Return As Dark Maul In Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A Ray Park return to Darth Maul? Should it have happened? When director J.J. Abrams was starting principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VII at the beginning of 2014, it was fun to speculate about what familiar faces could pop up in the new trilogy.
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher were all rumored or confirmed to reprise their iconic roles. And it was also been hinted that the new trilogy could follow the rise of the Solo twins, Jaina and Jacen, from the expanded universe.
It was definitely a great time to be a Star Wars fan with the sequel trilogies seeming to offer a relavite blank slate to those looking at how things could unfold. One actor who was itching to come back was Ray Park. The accomplished martial artist and stuntman was very interested in reprising his role as the fan-favorite Sith Lord Darth Maul.
At the time, Park expressed keen excitement about donning the black Sith robe one more time at Wizard World Con in New York City. While it was unclear whether Abrams intended to bring back Darth Maul, Park was willing and eager to revisit the evil character again. “Just give me food and water, and I’m there,” he said.
Ray Park even had ideas about a potential role, and mentioned that he’d like to return, “with something a little bit spicy,” like his iconic double-edged lightsaber. He also thought the character should be shirtless in order to show off his Nightbrother clan tattoos.
Ray Park said he loved his time as Darth Maul and valued being part of larger Star Wars mythology. When the first trailer for The Phantom Menace was released, he teared up when he saw his character in action. I think we all shed a tear the first time we saw that red, double-ended lightsaber.
Introducing the evil Sith was one of the biggest and most memorable additions George Lucas made in The Phantom Menace. One look at Ray Park’s sinister red and black scowl, and you know he’s not someone you want to tangle with unless you’re a Jedi Knight. But Lucas also unceremoniously killed the character off in the film’s climax, leaving a lot of unrealized potential on the table.
Since The Phantom Menace, Maul’s popularity has grown exponentially, appearing in his own spinoff novels and comic books, including Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Star Wars Tales 9, and Star Wars: Visionaries.
In the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, writer and producer Dave Filoni, with voice actor Sam Witwer, resurrected him after being bisected by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sporting new cybernetic legs, he teamed up with his brother, the aptly named Savage Opress.
In the end, there was no Ray Park in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it was probably for the best. But man would it have been cool to have him and that lightsaber back in action.
