Just when you think you’re out, the galaxy far, far away keeps pulling you right back in.
Yesterday, I shared the now-infamous clip from Solo where Witwer reprises his vocal role as the formerly-Darth Maul, dubbing over Ray Park in order to bring the character to live action in a way that preserves continuity with the animated shows, where Witwer’s Maul has brought new life to the character.
For Witwer, this has been a strange experience. As he said in an interview with Cinema Blend recently, the actor was both thrilled and a bit shocked to return to the role he made his own… over and over again:
I sure wasn’t expecting it. It was a little bit of a surprise. Look, it was shock and disbelief. I didn’t believe what I was being told, and furthermore, I didn’t know the story at the time, so it had to be explained to me what the significance of this whole plot was. And then getting on the phone with Ray Park and sharing our giddiness over the fact that we had the opportunity to do this. But yeah, look, I’ve publicly said goodbye to the Maul character I think twice. When Clone Wars was over, I think I did a few interviews where I said, ‘Ah, it was a wonderful time and I’m saying goodbye to the character.’ And then he was back for Rebels. And then after Rebels, he gets killed and I go, ‘Well, it was a wonderful run and I’m saying goodbye to the character.’ And then Solo…
Witwer’s career as Maul has been full of starts and stops. He was on Clone Wars, which was cancelled, and then reappeared on Rebels, where he died