The upcoming Star Wars: Rebels season 3 Blu-ray of the animated TV series breaks down Obi-Wan Kenobi's return and his long awaited face-off with archenemy Darth Maul.  The Blu-ray, which hits stores August 29, 2017, contains special making-of videos from the season 3 set including one released early that reveals the inspiration and process behind the fight scene between Obi-Wan and Maul.

It's no surprise that fans are getting a look at this feature early considering all the attention Obi-Wan has been getting lately. It was just announced a couple of days ago that Lucasfilm is in the process of developing a stand-alone Obi-Wan movie as part of the franchise's anthology films like Rogue One and the untitled Han Solo movie. Fans have been hoping for an Obi-Wan movie since it was first announced that Lucasfilm was making anthology films, with the hope that star Ewan McGregor, who portrayed Obi-Wan in the prequel trilogy, would reprise his role.

A new post by EW reveals a behind-the-scenes video that focuses on the face-off between Obi-Wan and Maul on Tatooine in the Star Wars: Rebels episode 'Twin Suns'. Here is what animation supervisor Keith Kellogg said about how they blended the fight styles of McGregor, Alec Guinness, and Liam Neeson throughout the films to create Obi-Wan's fighting stance in the scene. Here is what he said:

Obi-Wan Kenobi versus Darth Maul in Star Wars Rebels

"It's much more about the footwork and the thought process that Obi- Wan has. It starts out as young Obi-Wan and then we shift him to more what Alec (Guinness) would do when he was fighting and then the very last one, if you look back at The Phantom Menace and you can see what Qui-Gon is doing, we sort of just move him right after Maul changes him. It's kind of a game within a game almost."

It was also revealed that the quick, deadly and even touching scene was also inspired by the 1954 film Seven Samurai when Kyûzô fought the other man in the field. Here is what executive producer and supervising director Dave Filoni said about the heart-stopping scene:

"When it came to Maul and Obi-Wan, the fight that leaped to my mind was Kyûzô fighting the other man in the field from Seven Samurai. It's the very still movements of the samurai who's moving with intention and grace, it contrasted verses the anger in the one man and that guys moving his feet a lot and he doesn't have a steady position and I'm like - well there you have it. Obi-Wan has intention, he is calm in this moment, he's centered. Maul is on the edge, Maul is angry, Maul is getting ready and has all this energy built up."

Next: Star Wars Rebels: Dave Filoni Reveals Kanan and Ahsoka’s History

Screen Rant will keep you updated on all Star Wars: Rebels news. The Blu-ray for Star Wars: Rebels season 3 comes out August 29, 2017.

Source: EW