After the mixed reception of Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy, Lucasfilm found new direction and success through both live-action and animation on Disney+.
While Star Wars animated series like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels were popular with fans before Disney+ and filled in gaps left by the films, the live-action films themselves didn't always return the favor.
That all changed with Lucasfilm's first live-action series - The Mandalorian - which has brought animated characters into live-action, and vice versa in 2021's newest Star Wars animated series for the streaming service - Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Now that Lucasfilm has found a rhythm in utilizing both mediums, the studio intends to keep the trend going with a new series starring a former apprentice and an actor with a background in both Star Wars and the MCU.
Solo's Paul Bettany Slated for Darth Maul Series?
According to Cinelinx, a new Star Wars animated series is in the works which will focus on the iconic Star Wars villain, Darth Maul.
In addition to the reports that Star Wars voice actors like Dee Bradley Baker and Matt Lanter were recording for Lucasfilm Animation, that list also included Sam Witwer, who has been voicing Maul since The Clone Wars.
This report also suggests that the new series would focus on Maul before he ran the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate featured in Solo: A Star Wars Story and that WandaVision's Paul Bettany is expected to reprise his role as Dryden Vos from the 2018 film.
Maul & Dryden Vos' Untold Star Wars Story
Despite his limited role in 1999's The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul proved to be incredibly popular with fans. Fortunately, Lucasfilm was able to continue his story via animation in Star Wars: The Clone Wars which not only showed how he survived his duel with Obi-Wan, but also his connections to various crime syndicates.
Maul returned to live-action in Solo: A Star Wars Story where he was revealed as the leader of the Crimson Dawn syndicate, in which Bettany's Dryden Vos was a high-ranking member.
The connection between the two characters was confirmed again in the final season of The Clone Wars, where Maul instructs Bettany's Dryden Vos and others to go into hiding just before Order 66 and the start of the Galactic Empire.
Even though Maul's post-Phantom Menace life has been a full one, and Star Wars Rebels fans know how it ends, there are still gaps in his story leading up to his Solo cameo, and the same can be said for Dryden Vos, who Paul Bettany has actually expressed in returning to.
Therefore, this series makes sense as it not only gives fans more Maul but also accomplishes what Lucasfilm Animation has always done in terms of providing context and further connecting and enriching the Star Wars tales that have come before.
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