As we first reported on SFFGazette.com, Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will officially return for Season 2. The series premieres on Disney+ next week, with a two-episode debut confirmed for Monday.
The streamer must be happy with how the show has turned out, and, like The Bad Batch, it seems likely that there's a multi-season plan in mind for Maul. The character remains hugely popular, so in many ways, this renewal isn't surprising.
Following his introduction in The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars later revealed that Papatine's Sith apprentice had survived his clash on Naboo with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. Maul's story later ended in Star Wars Rebels after one final duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine, but there's still a big gap to fill in his past.
That's what happened between the end of The Clone Wars and Solo: A Star Wars Story/Star Wars Rebels, meaning Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will explore the former Sith Lord's transformation into a crime lord.
Talking to Esquire, Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni, and the creative driving force behind this animated series, promised that the show will connect the dots between the projects mentioned above. "All of these evil things and all these selfish things scale," he teased. "It starts out small and it seems petty, but it quickly becomes a fulfillment of desire."
"If you took something that gives you power, it makes you feel better than somebody else, but it also makes you feel bad because somewhere, inherently, you know it’s wrong, what you did. So in order to quash that feeling of remorse, you have to do it again. And again, to get the fix of thriving and gaining power and suppressing other people. And it becomes this way of being—and that’s the Dark Side of the Force."
"Maul is just a fallen person. He’s put his own needs and greed ahead of everything else, his desire for power and revenge. And that’s what drives him," Filoni continued. "Maul is afraid, and power is the only way that he knows to really overcome this fear of his. This fear of being insignificant, of being forgotten, of being a nothing."
Set after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord 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 could be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit of revenge.
The voice cast includes Sam Witwer as Maul, Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara, Oscar nominee Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots, Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio-Daki, Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario, Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson, Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast, David C. Collins as Spybot, A.J. LoCascio as Marrok, and Steve Blum as Icarus.
Created by Filoni, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is based on Star Wars and characters created by George Lucas. The series is developed by Filoni and Matt Michnovetz. Brad Rau is the supervising director. The executive producers are Filoni, Athena Yvette Portillo, Matt Michnovetz, Rau, Carrie Beck, and Josh Rimes. Alex Spotswood is the co-executive producer.
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord premieres on Disney+ on April 6.