Ray Park And The Problem With Star Wars Rumors

There’s been a lot of talk in the past month about the possibility of a Solo: A Star Wars Story sequel. And why not? Granted, the film didn’t do as well as expected at the theaters, but the studio has only itself to blame for that. It bucked the December Star Wars trend, mismanaged the film’s marketing, and put it up against Avengers: Infinity War, for starters. Even director Ron Howard got in on the #MakeSolo2Happen movement. So did actor Ray Park just drop a hint that he may be reprising his role as Darth Maul in some Solo sequel capacity?

If you read the Express UK, then you might think so. You’d also be wrong. And shame on the Express for making you think otherwise. Look, actors make cryptic posts all the time. We here are That Hashtag Show aren’t immune to trying to interpret and draw conclusions from such posts. It’s one thing to speculate; it’s another entirely to mislead. In this case, The Express ran the following picture. In its article it suggests that Ray Park may be hinting at the return of Maul. Why? Park seemingly responded with wink and thumbs-up emojis to a comment asking if he was doing “mail [sic] stuff”:

Ray Park and the Problem with Star Wars Rumors

Exciting, right? Ray Park is coming back as Maul! Maybe we’re getting that Lando and Qi’ra series on Disney+ after all! Plus, Star Wars concept artist Jake Lunt Davis recently posted this on Instagram. Look at the logo on the ship, and his comment about a “nefarious organization”. He must be hinting at Crimson Dawn’s return, so it all ties together!

Not so fast. This Ray Park rumor changes considerably when you see the full message chain from Park’s Instagram. Here’s a screenshot of the conversation that actually took place:

When you see all the text, i.e. without the second comment from vicxvanilla conveniently hidden as it is in the Express UK photo, the context becomes much clearer. Ray Park is not responding to the question about doing “Maul stuff”, he’s responding to the correction of the spelling.

Look, I want to see Ray Park back as Maul as much as the next guy, but this?

You’re really reaching on this one, Express.