George Lucas’ Sequel Trilogy would have had Darth Maul as the main villain

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER now behind us, the STAR WARS Sequel Trilogy is complete, but many of us are still wondering what George Lucas' original plans for the Skywalker Saga were before he sold the franchise to Disney. We've heard bits and pieces of Lucas' plans over the years, but an excerpt from "The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005," a recently released book that covers the making of the Prequel Trilogy, has dropped a few more details.

One major element revealed by George Lucas in the book is that Darth Maul (Ray Park) would have returned as the main villain of the trilogy alongside Darth Talon, a Sith Lord who first appeared in the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. Maul would have trained Talon as his apprentice, with her taking on the Darth Vader role while Maul would eventually become "the godfather of crime" as the Empire crumbles. Maul wound up having something of a similar arc as seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, but as it stands now, Maul met his ultimate demise at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Rebels.

Additionally, George Lucas stated that the Sequel Trilogy would have put the focus on Leia (Carrie Fisher) as she attempted to build the New Republic, all while battling gangsters and former Imperials who had set up their own planets following the collapse of the Empire. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) would be tasked with rebuilding the Jedi Order from scratch and training a new generation of Jedi. "By the end of the trilogy Luke would have rebuilt much of the Jedi," Lucas said, "and we would have the renewal of the New Republic, with Leia, Senator Organa, becoming the Supreme Chancellor in charge of everything. So she ended up being the Chosen One."  Author Paul Duncan stated on Twitter that these ideas were what George Lucas was developing in 2012 (before Disney acquired Lucasfilm), which is why they seem a little different than the outlines he wound up presenting to Disney when they bought the franchise.