Animated spin-off Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is the franchise's first "cops and robbers" story

New animated Star Wars spin-off Maul – Shadow Lord will be the galaxy far, far away's first "cops and robbers" story, according to the team behind the scenes.

"We’ve kind of never done a full-on, for lack of a better word, cops-and-robbers kind of Star Wars," animation supervisor Keith Kellogg told Animation Magazine of the new show, which picks up with former Sith after the events of The Clone Wars, between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The cop in question is Brander Lawson, while the robber, in this instance, is Maul.

"The thing that Dave [Filoni, Lucasfilm president and chief creative officer] put to us is, how do we tell this portion of this guy’s story? What is he doing when the Empire rises? What is he doing, trying to get revenge?" added supervising director Brad Rau. "He only has, like, two lines in Phantom Menace, so he’s just always been this mysterious, interesting character that we felt like the time was right to tell his story."

Per the show's official synopsis, the series will see Maul "plot 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, that will aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge."

"We keep a measure of mystery around him," Rau continued. "It’s an interesting narrative balance. How do we focus on facets of this character without ruining him by telling you too much?"

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord debuts on Disney Plus on April 6. For more from the galaxy far, far away, check out our guide to the other upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.