Maul – Shadow Lord review: "Sam Witwer gives his strongest Maul performance yet in the most visually striking animated Star Wars show"

Maul returns. 14 years after his glorious resurrection (and 27 years after he was split in half), the former Sith Lord is back for his own animated spin-off show – and it's a fittingly dark, moody, and crimson red comeback.

The series picks up with Maul post-Clone Wars in the wreckage of his once fearsome criminal empire. The Shadow Collective – Maul's coalition of the galaxy's biggest crime lords – betrayed him after he vanished following the Siege of Mandalore, and he is out for revenge. Alongside his underworld manoeuvrings, however, Maul is also seeking an apprentice in the form of Devon Izara, a Twi'lek Order 66 survivor trying to lay low with her Jedi Master on the neon-drenched planet of Janix.

Thrown into the mix is Brander Lawson, a local law enforcement captain trying to keep the suffocating presence of the Empire away from his home, and his droid partner Two-Boots, who suffers from a serious commitment to playing by the book. Altogether, you have a planet on the edge of chaos – and a one-time Sith Lord poised to seize power.

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Back in black

Shadow Lord embraces a darker, edgier tone to match its angry, vengeful leading man. From the first episode, crime lords are murdering each other as part of Maul's Machiavellian manoeuvrings. Action scenes are noticeably more vicious than those of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, as characters get brutally stabbed, blasted by a jet of fire, or cleaved in half by Maul's bloodthirsty lightsaber. The show leans towards a more mature audience than its predecessors, though without quite committing to being fully adult, which is a balance it manages well.

A darker tone also requires a new aesthetic, and Shadow Lord is easily the most visually striking of all the animated Star Wars shows. The painterly animation creates an aura of roughness, with brushstrokes occasionally on show. Janix brings Coruscant to mind with its dark cityscapes and bright neon lights, while the grunge of Maul's underworld hideout is rendered in deep, murky greens and yellows. Lightsabers pulsate with crackling energy, mimicking the barely leashed rage of our protagonist: Maul's double-bladed weapon is brilliantly, violently red. One sequence sees Maul pursuing his would-be apprentice Devon through the dark as she uses his stolen lightsaber to light her way, in a deeply atmospheric pitch-black and blood-red sequence, as Maul lays out his ideology.

Maul is no stranger to seeking an apprentice – The Clone Wars sees him recruit his brother, the aptly named Savage Oppress, while Star Wars Rebels (set after Shadow Lord on the Star Wars timeline) sees Maul try his hand at corrupting Ezra Bridger – but his dynamic with Devon is fresh. Maul isn't quite trying to lead her to the dark side, but is instead trying to provoke her to act, rather than live in hiding. He seems more willing to let her come to him after planting some carefully laid seeds, asking deliberately probing questions about her status as an Order 66 survivor: doesn't she wish to fight back? His view is that they share a common enemy in the Empire and Sidious, the Sith Lord who discarded Maul as his apprentice and destroyed the Jedi Order. An interesting tension arises, however, from the fact that Devon's Master is alive and well: she is not as adrift as other survivors, and therefore less susceptible to Maul's manipulations. Something of a cat-and-mouse dynamic develops between Sith and Padawan, with Devon regularly escaping Maul's grasp.

While this is a very interesting push-and-pull, the back-and-forth is drawn out for long enough that the development of this unique dynamic feels a little hindered by the slower pace. Similarly, Maul clearly wants Devon for a plan to strike back at the Empire, but he is as mysterious and enigmatic as ever about exactly what that entails – this worked well when he was an antagonist, but, with him leading his own show, the shadows surrounding his schemes can verge on frustrating. Still, this dynamic is the most compelling aspect of the show, and it seems primed to build to a blowout conclusion in the final two episodes (which have – intriguingly – not been screened for critics).

Sympathy for the devil

That's also not to say that Maul isn't a fascinating protagonist, either. Shifting the former Sith Lord from antagonist to lead was always going to be tricky, as part of his appeal is that mystique: he's used sparingly in The Clone Wars, appearing in just 11 out of 133 episodes. But Shadow Lord unwraps some of the layers of this often-inscrutable character without obliterating that allure. Sam Witwer gives his strongest Maul performance yet, capturing every facet of the Sith's chilling charisma, rage, cold patience, and even unexpected vulnerability in that velvety growl; Maul remains at his eloquently loquacious best thanks to Witwer's vocal talents and the quality of the writing.

It's also impossible not to sympathize with Maul when he reflects on the tragedies and traumas of his past, most notably being cast aside by Sidious. But, the show expertly balances this empathy with Maul's cold-blooded scheming: he is no hero, even if he has set his sights on the Empire. Again, part of Maul's appeal is his villainy, and the show obviously understands that, even as it digs deeper than ever into all his multifaceted parts.

While Maul is front and center, there is a lively supporting cast of characters fleshing out the world of Janix, too. Wagner Moura's Brander Lawson is an enjoyable addition to the galaxy as a lawman investigating Maul's movements in the criminal world, but he is also just trying to be a dad to his son as his work keeps him busy. The ever-mysterious Inquisitor Marrok, sent to investigate sightings of Maul, continues to be an imposing presence after his debut in Ahsoka, which sparked a frenzy of theorizing (he's also just plain cool). Slimy crime boss Vario, a reluctant ally of Maul's, is also plenty fun.

Comeback kid

In the eight episodes screened so far, the show is split along three lines: Maul's criminal dealings, the Empire's hunt for him, and his pursuit of Devon. These plot threads feel somewhat isolated, though the groundwork is laid for them to come fully together in the final two installments. The show hits its stride once the Empire truly arrives later in the season, even if the crime story falls somewhat to the wayside. This, combined with the Devon and Maul storyline being slow to develop, can make Shadow Lord feel unbalanced at times. It also seems some storylines won't be neatly wrapped up in the final two episodes, perhaps to make way for future seasons. Plus, with the layers of backstory needed to understand Maul's past, the show is not very newcomer-friendly.

But Shadow Lord is an enthralling tale of Maul's determination to rise to the top from the bottom – again. Part of the enduring appeal of this character is his ability to claw his way back to greatness no matter how many times he's struck down: in Shadow Lord, Maul's grit and iron will is on full display, as well as the inherent tragedy of a character doomed to fail (the ending of Maul's story is fixed by Rebels, after all). Maul is emerging as an incredibly layered character in the second life gifted to him by Lucasfilm Animation, and Shadow Lord only cements this further.

With Shadow Lord already confirmed for season 2, it seems Maul's story is nowhere near its end, which is no surprise considering just how many times he has made his way back from oblivion.

Maul – Shadow Lord starts streaming on Disney Plus this April 6, with two episodes released a week until May 4 (AKA Star Wars Day). Keep track with our Maul – Shadow Lord release schedule.

In the meantime, catch up on Maul's story with our roundup of how to watch The Clone Wars in order – or see our streamlined list of what to watch before Maul – Shadow Lord.