Ah, the Rathtars. Some people loved the Rathtars and saw them as a true throwback to the early tone and feel of the very first Star Wars movies and Marvel comic books based on the franchise. While others thought these tentacled monsters were some of the worst things the new sequel had to offer. As it turns out, the Rathtars provide a very interesting connection between Darth Maul and the first new installment of the Disneyfied Star Wars universe. And guess what? This tie-in comes courtesy of a new Marvel comic book.

The braintrust at Disney and Lucasfilm have been working overtime to make sure that all things Star Wars somehow tie together to form a cohesive cinematic canon, which means quite a few threads weave in and out of all new comic books and novels coming to the franchise as a whole. Star Wars: The Force Awakens kicked off not just a new trilogy of big screen movies, but it has reestablished an entire galaxy full of interconnected Easter eggs and plot points. Over the next decade, you'll have had to consume it all to glean everything there is to know about this fantastical world first imagined by George Lucas.

Someone who has been getting a lot of attention lately is Darth Maul. Sure, he was sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of The Phantom Menace. But he's been resurrected in the Disney animated series and is currently featured in a big arc on Star Wars Rebels. He's also getting his own Marvel comic book.

Now, in issue number one of this Marvel comic, Darth Maul and the prequels are getting a tie back into The Force Awakens. Thanks to ComicBook.com, we know that the first couple of pages explain that Darth Maul needs some release for his anger, rage and immense power as he trains under Darth Sidious as a Sith apprentice. He heads off to the planet of Twon Ketee, where he sets off on a hunting expedition. The comic goes onto explain that this newly established planet in the Star Wars cinematic canon is actually homeward to the monstrous beasts, the Rathtars, as first introduced in The Force Awakens

These are the rolling ball-like creatures with the sharp teeth that Han Solo and Chewbacca were transporting to help make ends meet when we catch back up with them forty minutes into The Force Awakens. We got to see the Rathtars in action as they got loose on Han and Chewy's freighter, and they were quite dangerous, chomping their way through two different criminal organizations while also almost taking out new characters Finn and Rey.

Of course we didn't see the last of the Rathtars in The Force Awakens. We may not see them again in a Star Wars movie, but they are firmly established now as a part of the canon, and you can bet that the Star Wars Story Group will utilize them when possible. In the first issue of this Star Wars comic, which was written and drawn by Cullen Bunn and Luke Ross, we get to see Darth Maul take out his growing frustrations on the Rathtars. A parallel is drawn between both Maul and the Rathtars vicious relentlessness.

The Darth Maul comic brings an unexpected connection to The Force Awakens. And fans who had fun with the Rathtars in the movie will enjoy their appearance here. The first issue of the Darth maul comic is available on newsstands and at local comic shops now. Perhaps we'll see a Star Wars Anthology movie about Darth Maul sometime in the next decade.