Ray Park does the motion capture for Darth Maul in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars revival. Debuting the key figure in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, the actor played the physical part of the character while Peter Serafinowicz provided his voice. Following his abrupt (supposed) death in Episode I, he’s never appeared on the big screen again until his cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story which also marked Park’s return. But as the beloved prequel animated series return for a proper send-off thanks to the Disney+ platform, the Scottish martial artist is set to reprise the character, but this time, on the small screen.
Maul has previously appeared in Clone Wars where he was initially revealed to survive his fall in the fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Brilliant voice actor and Star Wars enthusiast Sam Witwer provided the voice for the former dark lord. In the show, fans have seen an exploration of his and Kenobi’s complex relationship. With the impending resurrection of the show, viewers will see more of Maul’s life before he re-appeared in Star Wars Rebels, and to ensure that the character is loyal to his appearance in The Phantom Menace, creator Dave Filoni tapped the services of Park to do the motion capture for the character.
During this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Chicago (live streamed over at Star Wars’ official Youtube channel), an Ahsoka-centered trailer for Clone Wars’ newest season was debuted. Toward the end of the clip, fans see Maul squaring off with Anakin Skywalker’s former apprentice. After premiering the video, Filoni revealed that Park did the motion capture for Maul. “When you see Maul fighting, it’s gonna be really Maul fighting. There’s just something unique about the way Ray moves,” he said.
Considering that Maul’s next and final encounter with Kenobi was done in Rebels, fans will more likely not see the arch-nemesis in Clone Wars. Nevertheless, the fact that Filoni and his team took the time and effort to actually ask Park to return to do Maul for the show is an indication that they’re pulling all the stops to make sure that they nail down what’s expected to be the ending of the show. If anything, they could’ve done him in the animated show without the need for a physical actor since they were able to pull that off for years.
Perhaps the fact that Park was previously tapped to appear in last year’s Solo made it easier for him to appear in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There’s a chance that part of his deal to return was reprise the character again in the prequel series. And considering that there’s a slew of Star Wars content coming thanks to Disney+, the door is wide open for him to play the role again moving forward.
More: Star Wars Celebration 2019 Round-Up: The Biggest News & Reveals
Source: Star Wars
