Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan may have only been announced as Lucasfilm’s new leaders just last Friday, but as we all know, time waits for no man, woman, or former Sith Lord. And with that in mind, today has brought with it the first trailer for Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord. A pulpy new post-Clone Wars set animated series from Filoni and Matt Michnovetz, Shadow Lord — first announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan last year — is set to dig into a hitherto unexplored chapter in Maul’s history: the Dathomirian Zabrak’s attempts to (re)build a criminal syndicate and train a new apprentice during the early years of Emperor Palpatine’s Galactic Empire. For Sam Witwer’s dulcet tones, lots of lightsaber swooshing, and a first glimpse of a potential new Sith, check out the teaser below;
As Maul himself once said, “What fun! What fun…” And that’s certainly what it looks like fans will be in for when Shadow Lord arrives on our screens. As this first trailer for Lucasfilm Animation’s first fully-fledged new series since The Bad Batch shows us, we’re headed to an all-new planet — the gorgeously designed neon-noir world of Janix — with Shadow Lord. There, our favourite loquacious robot-legged badass finds himself on the run from Palpatine and his Imperial forces (including Ahsoka-introduced Inquisitor Marrok); teaming up with pink-skinned Twi’lek runaway — and not not a potential Darth Talon in the making — Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon); and showing off his lethal double-ended saber skills as he reminds his new apprentice that “chains can be broken and empires can be shattered.” It’s all deliciously brooding and distinctly Maulian stuff, augmented by animation that suffuses the stylisation of Clone Wars and Bad Batch with old-school physical elements — brush-on-glass painted shots and matte paintings on canvas — that look, frankly, bad-ass.
The official synopsis for the 10-part series — whose voice cast elsewhere includes newly minted Oscar nominee Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson and Richard Ayoade as a character named Two-Boots — reads: “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord picks up after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, for a pulpy adventure that finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge.”
Having seen the character of Maul expand in such fascinating directions across The Clone Wars and Rebels since his hastily bisected beginnings in The Phantom Menace, consider us locked in and ready for the latest chapter in the story of one of Star Wars’ greatest ever characters. And you’d best get your face paint and “Keno-bayyyy!” cries ready sharpish folks — Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord makes its two-episode premiere on Disney+ on 6 April.