The Star Wars franchise is generating massive hype right now (at the time of writing this), thanks to the one-two-punch of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker almost hitting theaters, and The Mandalorian's premiere on Disney+. However, when The Mandalorian episode 2 dropped just before the weekend, "Baby Yoda" wasn't the only big Star Wars-related topic trending on social media: Darth Maul was a major trending topic, as well. Seeing Maul's name trending convinced a lot of Star Wars fans that the Prequel Trilogy villain was making a(nother) comeback in The Mandalorian - but turns out it was just because fans still love him that much.

Well, all that random online chatter about Darth Maul sparked a very good question: Is a Star Wars: Darth Maul movie or TV series something that needs to happen?

While we're discussing that question, we'll also need to get a few facts about Star Wars canon in order:

Darth Maul didn't die in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

This is probably the most important-yet-aggravating point of Darth Maul's role in the Star Wars franchise, so let's get it out of the way. Those who have watched the official Star Wars animated series (Clone Wars, Rebels) already know that Maul's story continues on in a big way. Maul survived The Battle of Naboo and his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but was severely damaged, both physically and mentally. Maul is discovered in hiding on a junk planet by his brother, and restored to health by the witches of his home planet (Dathomir), known as the Nightsisters. With his mind repaired, and his body enhanced of cybernetic parts, Darth Maul joined with his brother Savage Opress and rode out the Clone Wars in the Outer Rim territories, building a massive crime syndicate, eventually finding a base on Mandalore for his Shadow Collective group to rule through a puppet government. That time of greatness falls apart when Maul gets too powerful and has his hold on Mandalore and the Shadow Collective smashed by Darth Sidious.

Maul's story gets a bit murkier after that. Clone Wars never got to finish its storyline for Maul before the show was canceled, so Maul's arc of being Sidious' prisoner, and his escape and battles with General Grievous and Count Dooku were pushed into the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic series. Both Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story pick up Maul's thread during the era before Star Wars: A New Hope, exploring how he survived in the shadows in the year's since the Republic's fall by building a new crime syndicate called Crimson Dawn, and trying to unlock secret powers of the Sith. In the end, Maul died in a final duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tattooine, when Luke Skywalker was just a little boy.

Darth Maul is One of the Biggest Problems in Star Wars Right Now.

That brings us to the glaring issue hanging over Star Wars. Like so many supporting or bit characters in the series, Maul has become so much more of an icon than was probably intended, originally. However, there's a major divide between those who know the longer and deeper story of the character that's been established, and those who think he was painfully underutilized by being killed off in The Phantom Menace. So how do you do more with the Darth Maul, without upsetting Star Wars' established continuity?

Darth Maul Needs His Own Star Wars Movie or Miniseries.

In the end, the main problem here is that Darth Maul's story got lost in the transitional period where Star Wars went from its old canon under George Lucas, to this new expanding canon under Disney. A Darth Maul movie or miniseries would be a great way to revisit the events of Clone Wars and Rebels without having to fully redo those arcs, while the main focus could be filling in more of Maul's story between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It would once again unify the fanbase in their "official" knowledge of Darth Maul's story, and the publicity potential is clear, since Darth Maul can still rise to the height of a trending topic, on a random day.

For our money, Disney+ and The Mandalorian have made it hard to argue against getting more Star Wars live-action series. A Darth Maul miniseries would give ample time and space to not only bring the villain's story to a close, but also help clean up the unfinished stories that Clone Wars, Son of Dathomir, and Solo started. Clone Wars will get that momentum going when it brings back Ray Park as Darth Maul for its season 7 revival on Disney+, so what better window for a live-action spinoff?

Do you want to see this happen?

The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th.