Badass First Look at Darth Maul in STAR WARS: MAUL – SHADOW LORD Animated Series

Lucasfilm Animation has released the first look at the return of Darth Maul in the upcoming animated series Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, which brings Sam Witwer back to voice the iconic Star Wars villain.

In the image, you can see that Maul is clearly ready for a good ol’ fight to the death in an interesting-looking location.

Set in the year following The Clone Wars (around 19 BBY), Maul – Shadow Lord picks up after the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire. According to Lucasfilm’s official synopsis, the show follows Maul as he attempts to rebuild his criminal empire on a remote planet untouched by Imperial control.

Witwer previously talked about the series saying:

“It’s about bad guys vs worse guys. This isn’t going to be a show where you find out Maul is a real teddy bear, man … We’re not doing that. But is he as bad as Sidious or Vader? Actually no.

“From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws ... [there's] humanity that seeps in at various points because of things that have happened to him.”

Witwer also teases that Maul’s growing discomfort with the new galactic order plays a key role in the story:

“Maul will question whether creating the Empire was a good idea. [Maul’s] like, ‘Is that what [Sidious] had in mind? This is a little scary.

“Maul comes from a time of swords, sorcery, magic and knights, and now all of that color of the universe is being sucked out of this mechanized Empire. And Maul’s like, ‘Is this right? Is this the universe we were trying to build?’”

Maul's journey through the Star Wars canon has been interesting. He started as a near-silent enforcer in The Phantom Menace, got cut in half by Obi-Wan, then reemerged angrier and outfitted with metal legs in The Clone Wars.

He built a criminal syndicate, tangled with Mandalorians, and even returned in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the leader of Crimson Dawn.

I’m very excited about this new series and I’m looking forward to seeing how Maul’s arc continues to play out.

Source: Star Wars