Star Wars: The Force Awakenshas created a new generation of fans, some of whom may be revisiting the first six films in theStar Warsfranchise or watching them for the first time. The 1999 prequelStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menaceintroduced the iconic Sith apprentice Darth Maul (Ray Park), although his appearance in the franchise was short-lived after he was killed off byEwan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. Many fans were disappointed that this villain didn’t get much screen time, so filmmakerShawn Buset out to rectify that by creating a fan film entitledDarth Maul: Apprentice. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say about this project on hisYouTubepage.
“We worked incredibly hard on this film for almost 2 years! We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time. So we wanted to create a film just for him with the best lightsaber fights we could do! This is not based on any books, comics etc.”
The 17-minutefan filmopens with Darth Maul scrolling through data while we get voice over narration from the Emperor himself, who tells his apprentice that he must protect their secret at all costs. We also see snippets of footage of Darth Maul’s training, when a Jedi ship is seen landing on the Sith apprentice’s planet. The Emperor tells Maul that any intruder “must be destroyed immediately,” which lead to an epiclightsaberduel.
While this fan film clearly takes place before the events ofStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, it isn’t known how long before that movie this story is set. The action is quite impressive, withBen Schammaplaying Maul, and thefight choreographyhandled byVi-Dan Tran. It isn’t known where exactly this film was shot, or how much it cost to shot this epic production.
Darth Maul: Apprentice debuted on Saturday, and it already has over 1.2 million views on YouTube thus far. Thefan filmcomes just weeks after theStar WarsFan Film Awards were announced byJ.J. Abrams, but it isn’t known if the filmmakers plan on submitting Darth Maul: Apprentice for consideration. Though, it’s runtime currently exceeds what is acceptable to enter the race. Take a look at the film below, along with a behind-the-scenes video that takes us inside the production.
