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Get ready for some sizzling hot double-bladed lightsaber action, cause Darth Maul is spinning and slashing his way back to the Star Wars franchise in the upcoming Disney Plus animated series Maul - Shadow Lord.
Though he's technically lost the 'Darth,' as he's no longer a Sith Lord, Maul will still be as vicious as ever. And judging by the trailer, he'll be looking great as well with an engaging animation style that blends both modern and old school techniques.
Article continues belowStar Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord release date
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is arriving on April 6, 2026. That's a slightly different release schedule compared to other Disney Plus releases, since it means the show will arrive on a Monday rather than the usual Wednesday. The Maul show will release two episodes a week, leading up to Star Wars day on May 4.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord trailer
The first trailer for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord showcases a gritty vibe for the show, which seems to be heavily focusing on the crime lord aspect of Maul's character. We get plenty of glimpses of neon-hued cities, too, as well as the Twi'lek Jedi Maul wants as his apprentice. Check it out above.
The striking animation shown in the trailer blends both traditional and modern techniques, part of Star Wars boss Dave Filoni's direction to "put the hand of the artist in every frame."
"Dave Filoni wanted us to put the hand of the artist in every frame," supervising director Brad Rau tells SFX Magazine. "So you see more brush strokes in the skin tones, in the buildings and in the [background] matte paintings. Joel Aron, our director of lighting, photography and effects, had this really cool idea, where his team would paint on glass with actual brushes, and then scan those brush strokes into the computer. In the pilot there's this great hero shot of Maul as his lightsaber turns on, and if you look at the smoke next to him, there's actual brush strokes in the smoke."
A slightly different trailer was first shown behind closed doors at Star Wars Celebration 2025.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord cast
The Maul – Shadow Lord cast features some seriously impressive names. Sam Witwer is, of course, back as Darth Maul, while Gideon Adlon will voice a Twi'lek Jedi that Maul wants as an apprentice, who is named Devon Izara.
Oscar nominee Wagner Moura, meanwhile, is a police detective named Brander Lawson, while Richard Ayoade is his delightfully named droid partner, Two-Boots (2B0T).
Intriguingly, the cast also features Marrok, the mysterious Inquisitor from Ahsoka who sparked a frenzy of fan theories.
The full cast so far is as follows:
- Sam Witwer – Maul
- Gideon Adlon – Devon Izara
- Wagner Moura – Brander Lawson
- Richard Ayoade – Two-Boots/2B0T
- Dennis Haysbert – Master Eeko-Dio Daki
- Chris Diamantopoulos – Looti Vario
- Charlie Bushnell – Rylee Lawson
- Vanessa Marshall – Rook Kast
- David W. Collins – Spybot
- A.J. LoCascio – Marrok
- Steve Blum – Icarus
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord plot
The show is set shortly after the rise of the Empire on the Star Wars timeline, meaning it takes place after Revenge of the Sith, but before A New Hope. So, in Darth Maul terms, that means it falls between The Clone Wars season 7 and Star Wars Rebels, meaning we'll probably learn a lot about what he was up to in the gap between.
When we saw Maul in Rebels, he was seeking Ezra Bridger as his apprentice – and it seems finding an apprentice is his mission in Maul – Shadow Lord, too. This time, though, he has his sights set on the Twi'lek Order 66 survivor, Devon Izara. Interestingly, this has something in common with a scrapped idea from George Lucas's original plan for the sequel trilogy.
The show will also take us to a new planet named Janix. "It's one part Gotham, one part Metropolis and a hundred percent Star Wars with all these different levels and layers," executive producer Matt Michnovetz told StarWars.com. "It's a city essentially built into a crater on this planet that is untouched by the Empire. It's got a functioning democracy and law enforcement doing a good job of policing their own community. It's a rich environment for crime and gangsters, but so far there's been a very peaceful accord between all of them in the interest of business."
Marrock and the Inquisitorious will also make appearances, since the show is set just after Order 66. Marrock caused a frenzy of fan theories when he was first introduced in Ahsoka, and, when he died, he seemed to expel Nightsister magic. So, we might learn more about this mysterious figure in Shadow Lord and finally get some answers.
It also sounds like we'll see a new side of Maul in the show. "We're – all of us, including Sam – surprised at the new facets that we're finding in Maul on this show, which we're sure the fans are going to be delighted with," supervising director Brad Rau told StarWars.com.
That said, don't expect Maul to be a hero, as Michnovetz says Shadow Lord is about "a bad guy fighting worse guys."
"We definitely did not want to make him a hero. He's courageous, and he's got his own code, but what we did was create a bunch of interesting new characters around him, so that his behavior and actions directly impact them," the Shadow Lord producer/co-creator tells SFX magazine. "We may know how Maul's fate turns out years after our story, but we don't know the fates of our new characters."
Sign us up for what promises to be one of Star Wars's most exciting new projects.
That's a wrap on Maul – Shadow Lord. While you wait for the Sith to return, check out our guide to all the other new TV shows of the year that are worth getting excited about.
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