You may hate The Phantom Menace, but Darth Maul was one hell of an interesting character. He was an amazing Sith lord with a fresh look and opened our minds to the possibility of a cracking villain for the prequel trilogy (Belated Media agrees). However, these were struck down in a cheap early death that meant he lived up to half his potential (pardon the pun). Luckily, this sin has been absolved by an incredible 17-minute feature named Darth Maul: Apprentice - A Star Wars Film.

Without spoiling anything about it, this is a prequel to The Phantom Menace that shows you the origins of Darth Maul. What ensues is an amazingly choreographed lightsaber fight, conflicted drama and a fitting tribute to one of the most underused characters in the franchise.

"We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time. So we wanted to create a film just for him with the best lightsaber fights we could do! This is not based on any books, comics, etc.," say T7 Productions, the makers of this film.

And people love it! With over a million views, 96,000 thumbs up and 660 who must have accidentally hit the thumbs down icon in fevered excitement, it's an amazing achievement. Simply put, go up to the video and watch it. It really is incredible. And then come back here and watch the behind-the-scenes clip below.

Okay? Cool.