Lucasfilm boss Dave Filoni says that new animated show Maul – Shadow Lord will "honor" George Lucas' plans for the former Sith.
"Maul is a character that's our responsibility," Filoni told StarWars.com. "George [Lucas] and I had had some talks about Maul over the years and what his plans for Maul had been. And so I felt it was a way of honoring that future that we were going to have and finally bringing some of it to light."
After first appearing in live-action in The Phantom Menace, Maul has since featured in animated form in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, series that Filoni has been showrunner and creator for.
Lucas' early plans for the Star Wars sequel trilogy heavily featured Maul (and Darth Talon) as the key figure from the dark side, but ultimately Snoke and Palpatine are the main villains in the movies.
In Maul – Shadow Lord, the action picks up about a year after the events of The Clone Wars (which means it takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope), and sees Maul form an unexpected partnership with a young Jedi Padawan as he tries to rebuild his criminal syndicate and fight back against the Empire.
"He was trained to hate and destroy the Jedi without ever questioning it," Sam Witwer, who voices Maul, recently said. "Now he’s looking at the galaxy going, 'Boy, we could sure use a Jedi Knight or two.' At least with the Jedi you knew where they stood. There’s something to respect there. This Empire, he sees no values there, just the naked grab for influence, power, and money."
Alongside Witwer, the show's voice cast includes Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara, Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, and Richard Ayoade as the droid Two-Boots.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord debuts on Disney Plus on April 6. In the meantime, get up to (light)speed with our guide to the rest of the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.
