Star Wars’ Newest Series Quietly Confirms Lucasfilm Is Finally Reviving George Lucas’ Original Sequel Plan

For more than a decade, one of the most persistent “what ifs” in modern Star Wars history has been George Lucas’ abandoned plan for the sequel trilogy. When Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, he already had concepts for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. While fragments of those ideas surfaced in the years that followed, the trilogy that ultimately emerged bore little resemblance to Lucas’ original vision, particularly when it came to its villains. Now, with Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord set to release, Lucasfilm appears to be revisiting that discarded roadmap in a meaningful way. The series quietly resurrects one of the central pillars of Lucas’ sequel-era mythology by extending the story of Darth Maul (Sam Witwer), suggesting that the franchise may finally be circling back to the ideas it once cast aside.

Lucas Always Intended Darth Maul to Be the Sequel Trilogy’s True Power

At the center of Lucas’ sequel trilogy plans was Darth Maul, a character Lucas never viewed as expendable. While Maul was cut down in The Phantom Menace, Lucas later reconceived him as a long-term antagonist whose true power came from influence rather than Sith hierarchy. In Lucas’ outlines, Maul survived, rebuilt himself, and emerged as the criminal kingpin of the galaxy, ruling the underworld in the vacuum left behind by the fall of the Empire. He was not meant to be the front-facing villain of the sequel trilogy but its architect, occupying a role similar to Emperor Palpatine while operating outside the traditional structures of Sith dominance.

The figure meant to carry out Maul’s will was a character pulled from Star Wars Legends material: Darth Talon. Originally introduced in the Legacy comics set more than a century after the original trilogy, Talon became a fixation for Lucas, who was reportedly drawn to both her visual design and narrative function. In his sequel trilogy plans, Lucas repositioned Talon nearly one hundred years earlier in the timeline, transforming her into Maul’s Sith apprentice and the primary physical antagonist of Episode VII. Where Maul manipulated events from the shadows, Talon would confront the new generation of heroes directly, filling the Darth Vader role within the saga’s next chapter. But that story never reached the screen. Disney’s sequel trilogy ultimately pivoted toward familiar iconography and legacy characters, culminating in the return of Emperor Palpatine and the sidelining of Maul’s larger arc. Despite this, the ideas themselves never fully disappeared. They lingered on the edges of canon, resurfacing in animated form, expanded lore, and now, most notably, in Maul - Shadow Lord.

‘Maul - Shadow Lord’ Reintroduces Darth Talon Without Saying Her Name

The first trailer for the series establishes Maul’s rise during the early days of the Empire, but its most revealing element is the introduction of Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon), a young Twi’lek who becomes entangled with Maul. Lucasfilm has described Devon as conflicted, a character who shares scenes of quiet ritual with Maul and receives instruction from him that extends beyond brute-force combat. While she is not identified as a Sith, the narrative parallels to Darth Talon are unmistakable. Devon mirrors Talon in function even as she diverges in characterization. Both are Twi’lek proteges bound to Maul. Both are positioned as extensions of his power rather than independent rulers. Both are connected to his dominion over the galactic underworld rather than the remnants of the Sith Order.

The key difference lies in moral framing. Lucas’ Talon was an unwavering, devoted apprentice who embraced the dark side without hesitation. Devon, by contrast, appears uncertain and more susceptible to doubt and internal conflict, a choice that aligns with modern Star Wars storytelling and its emphasis on character psychology. This is not a coincidence. It is emblematic of how Lucasfilm now approaches legacy material. Rather than importing Legends characters outright, the studio preserves their narrative purpose while reshaping them to fit contemporary canon. Devon is not Darth Talon by name, but she occupies the same narrative space Talon once held, effectively achieving what Lucas’ original plan intended while avoiding direct contradiction of established continuity.

Dave Filoni’s Approach Signals a Larger Course Correction at Lucasfilm

The significance of this is amplified by its timing. Maul - Shadow Lord is the first major Star Wars project to release following the departure of Kathleen Kennedy from her role as president of Lucasfilm. While the series was developed during her tenure, its creative direction aligns closely with the philosophy of Dave Filoni. Filoni has a long and well-documented history of reintroducing Legends concepts into canon. Through Star Wars Rebels, he restored Grand Admiral Thrawn to the galaxy. Through The Clone Wars, he canonized Darth Bane, Jedi holocrons, and expansive Mandalorian lore. In each case, Filoni did not recreate these elements exactly as they once existed: he reinterpreted them, grounding them within the emotional and thematic framework of modern Star Wars. Maul - Shadow Lord continues that tradition. By re-centering Maul and granting him a protégé again, Filoni is reinforcing Maul’s status as a generational villain, a figure capable of sustaining long-term momentum across multiple projects. Giving Maul an apprentice signals intent, implying continuity, legacy, and the possibility of an evolving threat that extends beyond a single series.

This approach also reflects a broader strategic shift within Lucasfilm. In recent years, the studio’s most successful storytelling has taken place outside the sequel trilogy’s immediate orbit. Series like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka have demonstrated the enduring appeal of stories rooted in the aftermath of the original trilogy, where the galaxy’s future feels uncertain and power structures are still in flux. Maul - Shadow Lord operates within that same space, drawing directly from Lucas’ foundational ideas while allowing new characters to reinterpret them. Devon’s existence suggests that Lucasfilm is no longer content to let Lucas’ sequel-era concepts remain purely hypothetical. Instead, the studio appears willing to incorporate them selectively, adapting them into forms that serve the current canon while honoring their original narrative intent. Rather than being a full reversal of the sequel trilogy or an erasure of Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) story, the path forward is something more subtle and sustainable: a recalibration toward long-form mythmaking rooted in Lucas’ designs.

What The Return to Lucas’ Sequel Vision Really Means for Star Wars’ Future

Taken together, the choices surrounding Maul - Shadow Lord point to something larger than a single character revival or Legends-inspired homage. They suggest a renewed confidence in long-form storytelling built around influence, legacy, and ideological succession, all hallmarks of Lucas’ original conception for the sequel trilogy. Rather than relying on surprise resurrections or symbolic callbacks, this approach favors patient narrative infrastructure, where power is inherited, contested, and reshaped over time. This is a notable evolution for Lucasfilm. For years, the franchise struggled to define a post-sequel identity that felt both forward-looking and cohesive. While Rey’s story remains an important pillar of the modern canon, recent successes have demonstrated that Star Wars resonates most strongly when it operates in eras of transition, where the future of the galaxy is unsettled and competing visions of power coexist. Lucas’ sequel-era ideas were rooted in that same uncertainty, emphasizing systemic corruption and shadow empires over singular tyrants.

By reviving Maul’s intended role as a manipulator, Lucasfilm appears to be reconnecting with that philosophy. The decision to frame his influence through a conflicted protégé rather than a fully formed Sith reinforces the franchise’s ongoing interest in moral ambiguity and choice, themes that have increasingly defined modern Star Wars storytelling. It also allows the studio to honor Lucas’ concepts without being bound to their original execution. In that sense, Maul - Shadow Lord functions as a continuation of an unfinished conversation. It acknowledges that Lucas’ vision for Star Wars’ future was never fully realized, but it also recognizes that those ideas can still evolve within the current canon. Rather than rewriting the past, Lucasfilm appears to be building forward using foundations that were laid years ago and left waiting.

Whether this signals a permanent creative direction remains to be seen, but the intent is difficult to ignore. Star Wars is no longer treating Lucas’ sequel vision as a relic of an abandoned plan: it is treating it as a resource.