Star Wars Used Old-School Techniques to Reinvent ‘Maul — Shadow Lord’ [Exclusive]

Disney+’s new Darth Maul series already feels like a major step forward for Lucasfilm Animation, and that is not just because of the character at the center of it. The show is darker, more serialized, and more visually ambitious than anything the team has done before, which comes through almost immediately in the early looks that have been released for the series. And after hearing from the creative team behind the series, it is pretty clear that that was not an accident, because this was a show built to stretch what Star Wars animation could do.

In an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt, Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord producer Athena Yvette Portillo, writer Matt Michnovetz, and supervising director Brad Rau made it clear that the new Disney+ series was designed to push the envelope from the start. When Lovitt asked Portillo how Lucasfilm is continuing to evolve its animated work, she said:

“This show really took it to another level. It was something that Dave Filoni and I had discussed a lot, finding ways to push the body mechanics and the facial in the animation, and also pushing the background matte paintings.”

That is where things start getting especially interesting. Rather than only leaning on newer digital tools, the team also looked backward to help move forward. Portillo explained, “We actually went back to the old-school way of doing things, such as oil on canvas for the mattes that we would then photograph and composite into the backgrounds. We also went back to practical model building for some ships. We went into doing paintbrush strokes on glass panes that we would then shoot, and you would see it in the smoke stacks, very closely.” It’s a fascinating mix of handcrafted and modern techniques, and it sounds like the result is a series that looks more textured and more alive than fans may be expecting.

Related

A Collider Movie Quiz Designed to Boost Your Ego!

Everyone deserves a perfect score now and then, so today’s challenge is designed to be easy-peasy. You’ll go 8-for-8 and feel great about it!

Who’s In ‘Shadow Lord’?

The cast includes Sam Witwer as Darth Maul, Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, Charlie Bushnell as Lawson’s son, and Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara. Portillo added that Witwer was a key part of the development process, too, saying:

“We also worked closely with Sam in getting the video reference of his facial for the nuances and the emotion that we’re trying to execute, and that made it into the animation, as well. Not mocap, but actual reference. So, that was a lot of fun.”

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is streaming now on Disney+.

Release Date

April 6, 2026

Network

Disney+

Directors

Brad Rau