{"id":384519,"date":"2026-04-06T10:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384519\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:31:14","slug":"star-wars-maul-shadow-lord-review-compelling-thrilling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384519\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Wars: Maul \u2014 Shadow Lord Review: ‘Compelling & Thrilling’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Clone Wars, Maul (Sam Witwer) looks to rebuild his criminal empire on Janix while also seeking a new apprentice to mould to his will.<\/p>\n

Streaming on: Disney+<\/p>\n

Episodes viewed: 8 of 10<\/p>\n

After getting sliced in half following a legendary introduction and duel (of the fates) in\u00a0Star Wars:\u00a0Episode I\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Phantom Menace<\/a>,\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0be forgiven for thinking that Darth Maul\u2019s story was done after six glorious minutes. But that was just the beginning.\u00a0Arguably no\u00a0Star Wars<\/a>\u00a0character who debuted in live action has benefitted more from the medium of animation than the universe\u2019s most famous\u00a0Dathomirian. Each appearance in\u00a0The Clone Wars<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Star Wars: Rebels\u00a0added new layers and edges to his unpredictable journey. And now Dave Filoni (who masterminded the\u00a0aforementioned series) has finally seen fit for the iconic villain to take centre stage for the first time in\u00a0Maul: Shadow Lord<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a choice that pays dividends.<\/p>\n

\"Maul<\/p>\n

Maul\u00a0contains\u00a0multitudes, and we see a great many of them over the course of the season. Maul the schemer takes precedence early on as he looks to take revenge on his enemies. Maul the teacher is one of the strongest storylines, his not-quite-allies-but-not-quite-enemies\u00a0dynamic with young Jedi\u00a0Padawan Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) one of the backbones of the season. Through them, the political undertones that have always been a part of\u00a0Star Wars\u00a0become more explicit too, with dialogue like,\u00a0\u201cWhat does it mean to be a Jedi? Guardian of peace and justice in a time of lawlessness,\u201d\u00a0and,\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t realise the fragility of these institutions until they\u2019re ripped away,\u201d nodding to the US\u2019 current political moment. Later, Maul the betrayed comes to the fore in a moment of startling vulnerability that leads to well-earned tears.<\/p>\n

When the time comes to draw\u00a0lightsabers\u00a0and do battle, Maul is often an overwhelming threat.<\/p>\n

That takes nothing away from his menace, however, and when the time comes to draw\u00a0lightsabers\u00a0and do battle, Maul is often an overwhelming threat. Each swing of his\u00a0lightsaber\u00a0emphasises his brutality, and the red glint of his weapon has rarely felt so imposing, with the messier, grungier art style accentuating the darkness of this world. When the Jedi and Inquisitors join the fray, the animation rises to the challenge in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Brad Rau (The Bad Batch<\/a>), the vocal performances are uniformly strong. As overwhelmed police captain Brander Lawson, Wagner Moura gets better as the series progresses, bringing a weariness and\u00a0ultimately asense of desperation and fear that feels convincing and authentic. Richard Ayoade adds some welcome levity as Lawson\u2019s naive robot partner Two-Boots, and Adlon infuses Devon with a youthful, determined vigour.<\/p>\n

But primarily, this is Sam Witwer\u2019s show. From calm seduction to venomous menace and even some surprising vulnerability,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0another great showcase of why his vocals for the titular Maul are so definitive. And with\u00a0Season 2 already green-lit,\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0thankfully be getting more of him\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and the show\u00a0\u2014\u00a0sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

Though not quite essential, Maul: Shadow Lord is a compelling and at times thrilling chapter in the villain\u2019s ever-evolving story.\u202f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the Clone Wars, Maul (Sam Witwer) looks to rebuild his criminal empire on Janix while also seeking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[93,61,60,270],"class_list":{"0":"post-384519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}