Maul is back and he’s ready to show you the galaxy for what it truly is.
On Thursday, Star Wars dropped the first trailer for the Maul: Shadow Lord, the new animated series surrounding one-time Sith apprentice and later crime lord Maul (voiced once again by Sam Witwer) that falls in the lineage of The Clone Wars. The series will debut on Disney+ with a two-episode drop on April 6 and will continue dropping two episodes per week leading up to a May 4 finale.
According to StarWars.com, the series picks up after the events of The Clone Wars finale in what is described as “an era near the beginning of Emperor Palpatine’s reign.” When we left Maul last at this point of the timeline, he had used Ahsoka and Rex’s attempted escape from the Clones following Order 66 to steal a ship and make his own departure. Maul had been defeated and captured by Ahsoka during the Siege of Mandalore, but Maul knew that the time of the Jedi was rapidly ending.
The trailer has Maul seemingly making another pitch for a partner to join him. We see him setting out tea, noting that times have changed and that he can show his unseen companion how the galaxy truly is and to see things from a new perspective. We next see what is described as a “disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge” asking if this is all the future holds. Maul is seemingly offering that erstwhile padawan an opportunity, an opportunity to not just survive but truly live.
Of course, that will be easier said than done, as the nascent Empire is still hunting down Jedi survivors as well as independent operators like Maul. The Dathomirian is something of a loose end for Palpatine, so it makes sense that the Emperor has taken a personal interest in the fate of his former apprentice and wants him dead. We see multiple inquisitors, including the one Ahsoka would eventually defeat in the finale of Tales of the Jedi as well as Marrok, who appears in the live-action Ahsoka series.
Although the series comes from the creators of Clone Wars and is clearly part of that lineage, StarWars.com notes that the series, which takes place on a planet named Janix, “features stylized animation emblematic of the gritty new cityscape locale of Janix combined with old-school filmmaking methods to capture painterly brushstrokes on glass and other physical elements.” There will also be a Marvel Comics prequel series set on Janix this March.
Described by Executive Producer Matt Michnovetz as an “action-packed thrill ride,” the 10-episode series will be serialized and will add more to the lore of Maul, who we see strike down plenty of troopers and Imperial agents. This includes a scene in the trailer of him walking down a ship’s ramp that is reminiscent of the way his mortal enemy Obi-Wan Kenobi appears at the top of Padme’s ship’s ramp in Revenge of the Sith. We even hear a bit of John Williams’ iconic Duel of the Fates, from The Phantom Menace.
Maul pitched Ahsoka in the Clone Wars finale on joining him to defeat Palpatine, and we’ve seen him briefly work with Ezra Bridger in the Rebels animated series which will follow the events of this series in the Star Wars timeline. So there is a chance we see Maul as something of an anti-hero in this series. It’s important to remember, however, that just because he opposes the Empire, he’s no hero. He continues to have a lust for revenge — against Palpatine, against Obi-Wan — and is seeking to rebuild the criminal empire he was growing and which we see him rule over in his brief live-action cameo in Solo. So don’t expect our Jedi padawan survivor to necessarily quickly buy into his seductive offer that we see in this trailer. And the audience shouldn’t either.
Chains can be broken and Empires can be shattered … and Maul: Shadow Lord debuts with a two-episode premiere on Disney+ on April 6.
