The biggest shock in Solo: A Star Wars Story? Definitely the cameo from classic baddie Darth Maul, who was finally revealed to be Qi'ra’s boss.

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However, now we’ve had months to mull over that twist, there’s another surprise to unpack: the sheer amount of time Ray Park – who reprised his role as the horned Sith – prepared for the role.

In a recent Instagram post, the actor showed off his muscled physique and revealed he trained several hours per day for his cameo. “Please remember I was 22 on Ep1 training 15hrs a day. For Solo I was getting a good 3-4 hours in of training with a serious hip injury,” he said.

But here’s the thing: Maul didn’t do an awful lot in Solo. Park trained 3-4 hours a day to say a few lines, stand up and look rather menacing with his double-bladed lightsaber (we’re still not sure why he turned it on, either).

However, there’s of course a chance Park was originally scripted to do more Maul-ing than ended up in the final film.

Remember, the movie was forced to change directors mid-production (with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller swapped with Ron Howard) – maybe there's a whole story arc fans don't know about?

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Overall however, it looks like Park may have spent all that time training to only be left with a perfect physique to use in more high-paying Hollywood roles. Tough break.

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Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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