Star Wars fans are so blown away by the animation in Maul – Shadow Lord, they think the franchise should ditch live-action altogether: "Damn near photo realistic"

As Disney Plus continues to roll out new episodes of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, fans of the franchise can't stop gushing about how far Lucasfilm Animation's style has come over the last 20 years.

Following the small-screen spin-off's double-bill premiere, a viewer shared a comparison shot of Ahsoka Tano in an early season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Shadow Lord's Devon Izara on Reddit – and commended the studio's artists for doing such an "incredible job" on the latest tale's visuals.

"They deserve every amount of praise for how beautiful Maul – Shadow Lord looks," the poster added, as another fan wrote in the replies: "Ever since Clone Wars season 7, [Star Wars] animation has been peak in all of animation imo. I've yet to find a style I enjoy more."

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"I say this pretty much whenever a new trailer/series in this style comes out. It's insane how far this style has come, it's basically unrecognizable at this point," said another. "And every time they manage to improve it even further and make it better still between projects."

Some expressed that they'd love to see The Clone Wars get a "graphical refresh". Meanwhile, others seem to so impressed with how cool Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord looks that it's convinced them that all future projects set in a galaxy far, far away should be animated...

"Every time a new animated show comes out, the level of animation is always nearly staggering. The environments especially look damn near photo realistic. Makes me feel that Star Wars movies should switch going forward," said one commenter.

"With as good as animation is getting sci-fi in general should start moving that direction in a lot of cases IMO," added another. "It simply allows for far more flexible storytelling."

Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord sees the eponymous former Sith try to rebuild his criminal syndicate and claim a new apprentice, Devon Izara.

The first two episodes are streaming now on Disney Plus, with new ones dropping every Monday. Ensure you never miss one with our Maul – Shadow Lord release schedule, or check out our verdict in our Maul – Shadow Lord review.