Brian Truitt

USA TODAY

A Darth Maul comic book is being unleashed on Star Wars fans in the new year, though the fan-favorite Sith apprentice is more leashed than they’ve ever seen him.

Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Luke Ross, the five-issue Marvel Comics miniseries Star Wars: Darth Maul (to debut in February) takes a look at the tattooed villain’s younger days before his short-lived appearance in the 1999 prequel film Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. On tap for the antagonistic warrior: lots of rage, a need to take revenge against the Jedi, and problems taking orders.

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The comic finds Maul an untested warrior under the training of Darth Sidious, who would later become the Galactic Emperor. Told to stand down from engaging with Jedi yet, Maul hunts down the worst of the worst in the cosmic underworld to vent his frustration.

After learning a young Jedi Padawan named Eldra Kaitis has fallen into the hands of a crime lord, Maul seizes an opportunity to test his skills against a real Jedi but also maybe turn someone else to the dark side.

Bunn is melding versions of the Maul audiences have seen into one, from the attack-dog mentality of the character played by Ray Park in Phantom Menace — before he was sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber and fell down a shaft to his apparent doom — to the cunning Maul seen in The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series.

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Bunn took a lot of inspiration from the big Maul fight scene in Phantom Menace, where Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and his Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) almost meditatively wait for their encounter while Maul paces.

“I like seeding where that impatience and anger comes from,” he says.

Eldra is a protagonist who “has a huge impact on Maul’s life going forward.” Bunn also promises interactions between Maul and Sidious that look at how Sidious relates to his apprentice: “He’s not a very warm teacher.”

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Bunn says he finds the fine line between devoted to the dark side or the light fascinating in the struggle between Sith and Jedi. “So a big part of the story is Darth Maul’s descent to the dark side and almost being tempted away from it.”