Disney Changed Original Obi-Wan Because Was ‘Too Dark,’ Axed Darth Maul

Savas Abadsidis March 14, 2022

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy who oversaw the original concept of Disney+’s upcoming Obi-Wan mini-series say many of their ideas, including a major role and return of Darth Maul were axed because Kennedy thought it was “too dark.”

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Indiewire:

The show changed writers because Lucasfilm was looking, “ultimately, to make a hopeful, uplifting story,” said Kathleen Kennedy.
Kennedy reveals that early scripts from original writer Hossein Amini were incredibly dark, and the entire show was put on hold to adjust the tone. Production was delayed from August 2020 to January 2021 to allow the show to bring in new writers and craft a sunnier story.
“We’re looking, ultimately, to make a hopeful, uplifting story,” Kennedy said. “It’s tricky when you’re starting with a character in the state that Obi-Wan would be in coming off of ‘Revenge of the Sith.’ That’s a pretty bleak period of time. You can’t just wave the magic wand with any writer and arrive at a story that necessarily reflects what you want to feel.”
“Army of the Dead” writer Joby Harold was brought in to overhaul the scripts, working closely with series director Deborah Chow. The two did a full revamp of the show, with Chow saying that “we inherited some of it, but we did really make some significant changes and add a few different elements.”
While the news of the scripts being sanitized may be disappointing to some fans, McGregor still thinks the show is dark enough. “Obi-Wan is lost,” he said. “He’s a broken man after what happened with the Jedi order at the end of ‘Episode III,’ but also what happened with Anakin; that he lost him to the dark side. He feels an enormous amount of responsibility for that, and guilt.”

Deadline has since reported:

Actor Ray Park was in active prep to reprise Maul.
That, however, was before those scenes were scrapped amid a creative overhaul that ultimately saw other antagonists, including Darth Vader, added to the show.