Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord premieres on Disney+ this Monday, and a whole set of character posters has just leaked online (we'd guess these were supposed to be released weekly or at the end of the season). At least two of those spoil some huge surprise appearances that are planned for the show, spearheaded by new Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni.
While most feature characters we've already seen in trailers and TV spots for the animated series, there are two that confirm the returns of Darth Vader and Dryden Vos, Solo: A Star Wars Story's lead villain.
The show is set between The Clone Wars and Solo, but with Season 2 now officially on the way, it will likely go beyond the latter to tee up where we found Maul when he first appeared in Star Wars Rebels. In the meantime, the focus will be on exploring how he became the head of the crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn.
While Vos's role as a rival crime lord was perhaps to be expected, Vader's presence is bound to get fans excited. He and Maul have never battled on screen, so could we finally see who comes out on top when Emperor Palpatine's previous apprentice squares off with the Sith Lord previously known as Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker? We'll have to wait and see.
We know that Maul's story ends in Star Wars Rebels when he faces Obi-Wan Kenobi in one final lightsaber duel on Tatooine. According to executive producer Athena Yvette, even with that set in stone, there are still plenty of surprises with where things go when we first catch up with the villain in Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord.
"That's a wait and see for me, that's a wait and see," she started. "I will say, when we approach these kinds of stories where you know a certain character's end, it's not necessarily a straight line. So, we wanted to make sure that we are making surprising bobs and weaves in a storyline that the fans are not expecting. Ideally, that's what we're doing."
"Also, there's a lot of new characters you've never seen before, and you don't know their fates and their destiny, and that's a big part of the story as well."
Check out these leaked Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord posters in the X and Reddit posts below (via SFFGazette.com).
Leaked Shadow Lord posters
by u/CT-1030 in StarWarsLeaks
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.