Star Wars fans are red in the face from pointing out that scarlet-hued, spiky-headed Darth Maul is one of the saga’s great villains. And yet the Disney Death Star continues to give a cold shoulder to the Phantom Menace baddie, as portrayed with panther-like grace by Glasgow martial arts expert Ray Park.

The latest unhappy twist in the Darth Maul drama has just emerged with news that Maul was expunged from the upcoming Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi (expected late May). The tap on the shoulder came relatively late in the process, with Park having supposedly signed up and even filmed a few preparatory scenes.

That is clearly a tragedy for Park. To spend hours in make-up having tiny horns affixed to your head is one thing. To do so only to discover Disney has decided to take a death-ray to your character is something else entirely.

But he isn’t the only one to lose out with the decision. Star Wars has recently suffered from a significant villain crisis. This will have been obvious to anyone suffering ongoing flashbacks to Adam Driver whining his way through The Rise of Skywalker. He sounded like a My Chemical Romance fan who’s just discovered his dad will be late collecting him from the concert.

That same “Disney Trilogy” was so short of memorable evil-doers it even resorted to literally resurrecting the decrepit Emperor Palpatine from The Return of the Jedi. And even the generally okay-ish Star Wars TV shows have stuttered when it comes to decent antagonists.

Seasons one and two of The Mandalorian had Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito essentially playing BB’s Gus Fring in space. And the Book of Boba Fett, stuck for a memorable baddie, instead required the iconic Bounty Hunter to battle a race of space fish called The Pyke (next season he is apparently up against the wicked Carp Vader).