Regardless of Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s poor performance at the box office, the contribution it makes to the Star Wars universe is considerable. From teaching us why the Millennium Falcon’s navigational drive is so effective (yet kind of mouthy, too), to how A New Hope‘s Dr. Evazan’s macabre medical procedures are used across the galaxy, the movie has plenty to offer.
And that’s without even mentioning that cameo. For those who haven’t..okay, nevermind. The long-since presumed dead Darth Maul is revealed in the final few frames to be the mastermind behind Dryden Vos’ Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. Appearing to have been ravaged by time, sporting mechanical legs and a modified lightsaber, don’t believe anyone who says they saw it coming.
But Maul wasn’t the only character considered for the cameo. Unsurprisingly, Han’s nemesis yet all-round wonderful human being Jabba the Hutt was originally thrown around for the part, too, and here, director Ron Howard explains to Empire why it never came to fruition:
“Jabba was on the list, but they kind of knew they didn’t want to go that way because it would be sort of funny, and maybe a little bit too much like sequel-baiting.”
Instead, Jabba gets the nod when Han’s mentor, Tobias Beckett refers to a gangster who’s putting together a crew. In what no doubt becomes the same job that sees Solo dropping his cargo due to Imperial involvement, this results in him owing Jabba a whopping pile of cash.
As for sequel-baiting though, there really needs to be another appearance for Darth Maul in the Star Wars universe after his cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The most likely place seems to be the Obi-Wan standalone movie, though with everything that Lucasfilm has coming down the pipeline, the possibilities for where he can show up next are plentiful.