Dave Filoni returns to the animated world of Star Wars with Maul – Shadow Lord to fill in the gaps of Maul’s life between Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.
2026 has been a huge year for Star Wars thus far, with Dave Filoni taking over as co-president alongside Lynwen Brennan and acting as the chief creative officer (CCO). That’s not all because we’re getting the huge return of Star Wars back on the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu, but before that comes along, Dave Filoni has developed a show with Matt Michnovetz, Maul – Shadow Lord, and it’s better than anyone initially thought.
Maul (Sam Witwer) is a character that George Lucas introduced to us back in 1999 with Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, but also took him away from us as Obi-Wan Kenobi sliced him in half, sealing his fate… or so we thought. Filoni returned him back to us in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has been telling his story since, with it concluding in Star Wars: Rebels, but there has been a huge gap in Maul’s timeline which still hasn’t been discussed in detail, and that’s exactly what Maul – Shadow Lord intends to do.
Filoni does feel like he’s constantly trapped in the Clone Wars era that he created, unable to escape this time period and his beloved characters, and who can blame him? Star Wars: The Clone Wars is still one of the best things to come out of the Star Wars franchise in the last few decades. The only problem is that you always have to question, ‘Is there a story that’s worth telling? ‘ With Maul – Shadow Lord, not only is there without a doubt a story worth telling, but it also paves the path forward for storytelling and animation in the Star Wars franchise as it takes a different direction.
In the first episode, we see the Shadow Collective pulling a heist on Nico Deemis’ (John Carroll Lynch) bank as they steal some credits and the Bank Supervisor Droid, which leads into the first of many high-speed chases in the show. Just when the local law enforcement thinks they have them cornered, Maul enters the picture in a scene that’s just epic and badass and speaks to the character as he appears to the backtrack of “Duel of the Fates”. There are several moments where Maul proves he’s the smartest person in the room, showing up unexpectedly and slaughtering everyone in sight.
If Darth Vader is unanimously the number 1 villain of Star Wars, Maul easily takes that second spot. What’s so great about this show is that it doesn’t diminish that he’s a villain. He’s been betrayed and plans to build up his criminal enterprise by getting revenge on everyone who betrayed him, including Darth Sidious (Sam Witwer). Enter Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon), a young, pink-skinned female Twi’lek who Maul has his sights on. Her character brings so much to the show and puts into question Maul’s actions and whether he’s a villain because that’s how we perceive him or if he’s truly just a good person who’s been dealt a bad hand and is doing what he must to survive.
Credit: Lucasfilm
Maul is absolutely terrifying, and it all comes down to Sam Witwer delivering his best performance as the character. The dialogue is well written; everything flows well, and it doesn’t feel disjointed. Every line that Witwer says carries itself with weight and makes the scenes between him and Devon feel so impactful and highlights how calculated Maul is as a character.
Early on, we find him talking about an apprentice who he’s been having visions about. We learn quickly that this person is Devon. While he does get a hold of her, he doesn’t force her into joining him straight away but allows for her to do everything on her own terms. All he does is give a slight nudge with his words. This series takes place roughly a year after the Clone Wars, meaning Order 66 is still a fresh event for the surviving Jedi and everyone else around them. Maul makes the extremely valid point that in a time of lawlessness, does being a Jedi guardian of peace and justice really matter?
The difference in how Devon wants to help people while her master, Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert), continuously wants to hide is further signs of how she may find herself falling to the Dark Side of the Force, realising she can use that power freely and not have to hide in the shadows, bringing us back to Maul’s point about Jedi post-Clone Wars. Devon and Daki aren’t the only two supporting characters that the show tends to focus on; while the two create a captivating storyline that moves in conjunction with Maul’s, the other new addition, Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura), allows Maul – Shadow Lord to feel like the crime thriller noir that Filoni wants it to be.
Wagner Moura delivers such a strong performance alongside Richard Ayoade, who plays his robot companion Two-Boot. The relationship between the two is quite interesting, as Lawson wants to keep internal affairs close to his chest, while Two-Boot would rather follow the books and get the Empire involved. Lawson’s relationship with his son, Rylee (Charlie Bushnell), is also a turning point for the show, as we get a little look into his life and how he puts every second of his life into his work, failing to make time with his son, which evidently ends up getting him involved with his mess.
Maul has two goals throughout this series, and those are to get revenge on everyone who betrayed him and to find him a new apprentice in Devon who will help him achieve this goal. Maul – Shadow Lord takes a slower approach with its storytelling, not rushing to the finish line, and while some people might find a show being slow a negative trait, this show excels because of it, similarly to how shows like Pluribus take their time to fully draw out the story.
Dave Filoni has finally realised that his audience has aged, and instead of getting a show that’s just another Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or Star Wars: Rebels with filler episodes and lots of humorous moments to entertain the younger audience, Maul – Shadow Lord rids itself of it all to tell a darker, more grounded, gritty story about Maul and the criminal underworld. It’s a story that’s for more mature audiences (although kids can still enjoy it) with complex, layered characters and a bustling neon world that opens up as the show progresses. Filoni shows us Star Wars through a lens that we didn’t know existed, but it’s one that we knew we needed for a long time.
Andor highlighted how Star Wars is very much capable of telling these vastly different stories that are catered to more mature audiences, and now Filoni has managed to take what worked so well for that show and bring it into the animation side of everything. Don’t let this deter you from the show because it still has that Star Wars spark to it that everyone loves; it can be hilarious when it needs to be and features sidekick droids on both conflicting sides with Spybot (David W. Collins) and Two-Boots.
Credit: Lucasfilm
Where Maul – Shadow Lord truly excels is with its animation. It takes the art style of Star Wars: The Clone Wars but elevates it by returning to an old technique of oil matte painting that helps the show achieve the stunning and mesmerising visuals that it brings. When just watching the wide-shot establishing shots of Janix, it feels like you’re in an art gallery, appreciating a piece of art that’s come to life. The contrast of the neon colours from the world, blasters and lightsabres brings energy into this world and makes for the best action sequences and lightsabre battles we’ve got in a long time.
Whether it’s Maul just brutally slicing through his enemies remorselessly or Maul having to face the Inquisitors that are out for his head, each fight stands out and is more violent than the last as tensions begin to rise in the latter half with the Empire arriving. The chaotic, unstable look of the lightsabres adds to the feral nature of Maul’s psyche and his battles with action choreography that will have you rewatching these fight scenes again, and again, and again, because I know that I was doing the exact same thing, enthralled at how stunning this overall show looked. If you loved Vader’s entrance scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, then you’re in for a treat as they give Maul his own equivalent.
Overall, Maul – Shadow Lord is a breath of fresh air as we return to the Star Wars universe but step away from the grand galactic side of things and come down to the street level as we dive into the grittiness and darkness of its criminal underworld. Sam Witwer brings so much nuance to the role of Maul and carries his dialogue like he’s preaching biblical words that carry a Shakespearean essence. The visuals are absolutely Star Wars at its best, and Filoni makes a great case for why animation should be the future of storytelling for the franchise in television.
Rating: 4/5
Maul – Shadow Lord Season 1 is streaming now on Disney+.