Solo: A Star Wars Story - Every Character Ranked Worst To Best

11. Maul

Star Wars Darth Maul death
Lucasfilm

For the more general audience, the reappearance of Maul - some 19 years after he 'died' - will be a big shock, while to those who have kept up with Star Wars TV shows will know the character didn't actually die in The Phantom Menace, and instead returned as the head of a crime syndicate called the Shadow Collective.

That path leads to his appearance here, the mysterious bigger bad above Paul Bettany's Dryden Vos and seemingly in charge of Crimson Dawn (a name that makes much more sense with this knowledge).

His brief cameo - where he makes a holocall to Qi'ra and instructs her to join him - is already proving divisive. It's the biggest moment of fan-service in the movie and the return of a great character wasted in Episode I, but it's also hard to feel like this isn't just a shameless shoehorning in of a recognisable face. It makes even less sense when you consider there's no tangible connection between Maul and Solo, and that the character's fate has been tied up (quite brilliantly) by Star Wars Rebels.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.