Star Wars fans have a habit of latching onto the "cool" characters in the mythos, even if those characters have relatively little to say or do. For the classic trilogy, this character was Boba Fett. For the prequels, it was Darth Maul. Maul never said much, but he had horns and a double-bladed lightsaber which he used to take on two Jedi at once, and that was enough. In The Phantom Menace, Maul was chopped in half and sent down a bottomless shaft by Obi-Wan Kenobi, but that's not enough to keep a good Sith down. The character has since returned to cause trouble in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, appearing in both The Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons.

Maul also nearly starred in his own game, though like a number of other promising titles, it was given the ax when Lucasfilm changed hands from its founder to Disney in 2012. Years later, video footage of the project found its way online.

Concept artist Thomas A. Szakolczay revealed a number of designs via his Artstation page that he created in preparation for the game in 2011. Tentatively titled Battle of the Sith Lords it was internally described as Project Maul. The game was eventually slated to take place after Return of the Jedi, so Szakolczay was able to take some liberties with the potential designs of new Jedi Knights and Imperial Stormtroopers. He also had created a number of animated ads designed for a Coruscant level.

Star Wars Darth Maul Video Game Concept - Gameplay
Star Wars Darth Maul Cancelled Game Concept Art - Thomas A Szakolczay
Star Wars - Darth Maul Game - Bounty Hunters -Thomas A Szakolczay

Though there is apparently interest from fans and developer Red Fly Studios in reviving the project, it's very unlikely that this will happen. EA Games, who now holds exclusive rights to develop games based on the Star Wars brand, has made it clear that all previous projects at Lucasfilm are dead. This included the noteworthy Star Wars: 1313, which had been advertised as an Uncharted-like game about a smuggler in the underbelly of Coruscant, only to be shifted after-the-fact into a game starring Boba Fett.

Fortunately, EA has a number of new projects developing, including another iteration of Battlefront and what looks to be a large-scale mystery project. Whether or not any of these will feature everybody's favorite Dathomirian Zabrak Sith is still a mystery.

Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more news on Star Wars as it hits.

Source: Thomas A. Szakolczay's Artstation (via GameRant)