Yesterday, the official Star Wars website updated with an interview with Cullen Bunn, who is the main writer for the upcoming Darth Maul five-part miniseries by Marvel Comics. The series will feature Darth Maul’s actions before the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The first issue of the miniseries is set to release this February.
Some highlights of the interviews include:
StarWars.com: Tell us about Darth Maul.
Cullen Bunn: This series takes place shortly before the events of The Phantom Menace. We’re following Darth Maul at a point when his anxiousness, his impatience, and his thirst for vengeance against the Jedi is at an all-time high.
He’s growing frustrated. He’s been taught to hate the Jedi. He’s been trained to kill them. But his master, Darth Sidious, has told him to bide his time, to keep himself hidden. This is driving Maul crazy, so we see him venting his anger by testing his skills against some of the nastiest creatures and cutthroats in the galaxy. During one of his missions, though, he learns something of interest. A powerful crime lord has captured a Jedi Padawan, and only a few people know about it.
Maul sees this as an opportunity to test his mettle against those he hates, so he sets out to find this Jedi. He has to operate in secret, though, because his master would not approve.
StarWars.com: Maul’s journey has revealed him to be many things. He’s been an attack dog, a broken man, and currently in Star Wars Rebels, he’s someone desperately searching for validation. Who is he in your story?
Cullen Bunn: I wanted to show a man with all of the aspects you describe. In The Phantom Menace, we saw him as a chained beast, pacing angrily as he waited to murder Jedi, but we really only glimpsed a small part of his personality.
In later iterations, he showed how cunning and devious he could be, and we saw hints of grief and loss and even guilt. I figure those things were all part of his personality, and I wanted to depict a well-rounded Maul in this series. He’s younger than he was in any of his on-screen appearances, but there are still shades of the man he will become.
StarWars.com: What’s the one thing you want fans to take away from this series?
Cullen Bunn: I want readers to have a much better, much deeper understanding of what makes Maul tick. I want readers to fear him, respect him, and even feel a little pity for him.
Justin Bolger is Lucasfilm’s Star Wars social media strategist and he doesn’t like the Empire… he loves it. Catch him occasionally on The Star Wars After Show and talk Star Wars with him on Twitter @TheApexFan.
The first issue will also feature several variant covers by the following artists.
Those who are interested can check out the full interview at the link below.
Source: Star Wars
