Maz Kanata looks terrifying in early concept art for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In 2015, Disney and Lucasfilm relaunched the famed space opera, kicking off a brand new trilogy. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the movie introduced fans to a string of new key players in the narrative such as Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren. There were also some fresh supporting characters including Maz Kanata.
Born over a millennium before the events of the sequel trilogy, Maz has a wealth of knowledge. She was the keeper of the ancient castle in Takodana, which served as a pit stop to a lot of galactic travelers. Given Han Solo and Chewbacca's adventures, they previously knew Maz and trusted her when figuring out what to do after they met Rey and Finn. Being Force-sensitive herself, she helped Rey get acclimated to her connection to the powerful energy, even handing her Anakin/Luke Skywalker's blue lightsaber.
While Maz was only in The Force Awakens briefly, she's one of the most memorable supporting characters in the movie thanks to her kind eyes and eccentric persona, not to mention knowledge about a lot of things. In a newly-released piece of concept art for the film, however, the character almost looked very different. Shared by Lucasfilm concept artist Christian Alzmann, the illustration gives much smaller but bulging eyes. Check it out below:
Now that the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the Skywalker Saga, in general, are done, it's curious of fans will ever get to reunite with some of the newer characters introduced in recent films. Maz, in particular, was arguably underutilized considering how many interesting stories she probably has from her adventures over the years, as implied in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's never even explained in the movies how she got a hold of the Skywalker lightsaber, which is one of the biggest lingering mysteries left by the sequel trilogy. In any case, if Lucasfilm wants to explore more of the character's story, they can simply craft a Disney+ series around her.
One of the biggest changes to Maz's appearance from the aforementioned concept is her eyes. Instead of making them bulge out, the final design made them deep-set. Her goggles don't make this obvious, but in the few times that she took her spectacles off, fans could see that her eyes are set much deeper in their sockets. The design gave her a kinder, more gentle look - reminiscent of an old woman, which she technically is. This worked well with her change in demeanor when talking to Rey after the young hero was spooked out by the vision she got upon touching the Skywalker heirloom lightsaber. If Disney would have gone with the above design for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the character likely would have had a very different effect on the audience.
Source: Christian Alzmann