The long-rumored Boba Fett film isn't happening, because all that focus is going into
The Mandalorian series which I think is the right call – especially to avoid confusion with marketing similar characters. That means it isn't clear what the next Anthology film might be, but I assume once we know more about the projects we know are being worked on, we'll probably find out.
At this point, I think that the best possible option is doing one with Darth Maul. Basically everybody thinks Darth Maul is cool as hell, Ray Park & Sam Witwer are both just the most lovely individuals, and there's PLENTY of potential to connect to little threads from
Clone Wars,
Rebels,
Mandalorians, and
Solo, while keeping the story much more standalone.
Not to mention they just showed a preview of his new comic.
That being said – we've never had a Star Wars
film follow a villain before. Following Anakin's fall in Episode III is close, but in many ways,
Revenge of the Sith is more like the "trial" that most trilogies have as their second film (
TESB &
TLJ are both this). Really, Episode III treats IV, V, & VI like the last chapter, so that it can be the tragedy.
Comics and stories have followed villains, but the films and shows are a bit different, and I'm not sure if Star Wars is really interested in going down that route, because then it'll just be people wanting a film about Vader hunting down and slaughtering Jedi. I think that those stories are best relegated to comics and books where it's more like learning about the characters, and less actively telling villain stories – since those go sort of against the narrative structure of Star Wars films – especially because their redemptions are already completed elsewhere. Finding a hook to pull Maul in as a major player would take some time to establish another character's introduction for a lead that could be used in a film with him
OR we'd just center in on Qi'ra, but I still think that that'd be a tough sell – even though I'd go see it in a heartbeat.
The one other thing is that Maul is that more and more, he's a bit of an anti-villain. Let me explain that a little bit without subjecting you to a TV Tropes link.
Especially in the preview for the new comic, it's shown that the underlying feelings Maul expresses and a parallel of what the Resistance wants in The Last Jedi, but from the opposite direction. Rather than the focus being on saving what you love, Maul is ALWAYS focused on destroying what he hates, and as a result constantly has everything slip away from him, and sinks deeper and deeper into his own ideological trap. He's a walking Revenge story, where he happens to be in the role of the bad guy, so he can't ever win.
Then, it takes an even bigger turn because he
ALSO turns against the bad guys. He hates Vader and Palpatine as much, if not MORE than everyone because of everything they promised and then took from him. He's burned bridges on every side, everywhere he goes, because he's fighting everyone, and only makes alliances to gather power in order to try and destroy everyone who's ever wronged him. He's the definition of Fear, Anger, Hate, Suffering stuck in a gigantic loop up until the very end. The last thing he asks Obi-Wan if Luke is the Chosen One, and says,
"He will avenge US."
That
"US" is really important, because it's the solidification that, while Maul is undoubtedly and without question an evil character, the underlying motives that drive him are something that our heroes share and see reflected in him, but he's long been too far gone to ever come back or be saved the way Vader did. As such, he's much more of a tragic figure who shows the way that the Dark Side takes EVERYTHING away from you, even when you
think that it's giving you power.
We already know that in
Solo, Maul is actively being hunted by the Inquisitors – given the lightsaber that he's wielding. We know from
Rebels that Maul loses any power he had running Crimson Dawn, and ends up stranded on Malachor (which the new comic is giving more significance). With all of that, IF they were to make a film with Maul front-and-center – you could have him still fighting against the bad guys. It'd be a delicate balance of ensuring that he's seen as a tragic character, but isn't ever mistaken for being a good guy. If you utilized his story to show another lesson about the Dark Side being a way that all of the good values are twisted to terrible ends, even with a motivation that could be used for good, I think that there's a potentially damned good story sitting in there. Hell, if it follows Qi'ra or someone else, you could see them making the RIGHT choice to turn back and strand him on Malachor in the end of the film, so it still follows a heroic arc, but one that's a bit more ambiguous in who's being a hero and who isn't.
Either way, that's some heavy tl;dr about things I'd love to see some day in one form or another, but I'd especially want in a film while Ray Park is still at an age where he could be Maul.
Also, lastly – because this doesn't have a better place to live:
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