Development When
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021–2024), a spin-off from the animated series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020), came to an end,
supervising director Brad Rau hinted that another continuation of the "
Clone Wars universe" was in development. During a panel celebrating the 20th anniversary of
Lucasfilm Animation at
Star Wars Celebration Japan in April 2025,
Lucasfilm chief creative officer
Dave Filoni and animation vice president Athena Yvette Portillo announced the studio's next animated series to be
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, focused on the
Star Wars character
Maul. Introduced in the film
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Maul was originally portrayed physically by
Ray Park and voiced by
Peter Serafinowicz. The character was presumed dead until he was brought back in
The Clone Wars voiced by
Sam Witwer, who reprised the role in the follow-up animated series
Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018) and the live-action film
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Witwer was confirmed to be returning for
Maul – Shadow Lord during the Celebration panel. While working on the previous
Star Wars animated series, Witwer and Filoni—the supervising director for
The Clone Wars and the first two seasons of
Rebels—discussed different ideas about Maul that Filoni felt would be better explored in his own project. Filoni began work on
Maul – Shadow Lord after Lucasfilm Animation staff returned to work following the
COVID-19 pandemic, and was joined by many creatives from the previous series including Rau as supervising director and Matt Michnovetz as
head writer. Witwer was brought onto the series a year before it was announced, and was more closely involved in development than with the previous series, discussing the character, reviewing scripts, and providing input on early animation. Witwer described Rau as Filoni's "apprentice" and explained that Filoni created the series but had more of an oversight role where he would only be involved with day-to-day production at rare times. Filoni is credited as creator, co-developer with Michnovetz, and executive producer with Michnovetz, Rau, Portillo, Carrie Beck, and Josh Rimes. Ahead of the first season's premiere in April 2026, and soon after he was named co-CEO of Lucasfilm, Filoni said a second season was in development.
Writing The series takes place around a year after Maul's defeat at the hands of
Ahsoka Tano at the end of the
Clone Wars, as depicted in the
final season of The Clone Wars. This is years before Maul's story comes to an end during the events of
Rebels.
Maul – Shadow Lord tells a
serialized, 10-episode story which Michnovetz described as fast-paced and action-packed. He felt Maul was the perfect character to "drive us through" such a story. The writers included homages to the classic film serials which inspired
Star Wars creator
George Lucas. Witwer said the series finds Maul "dusting himself off a bit" following the end of the Clone Wars and during the beginning of the
Galactic Empire's reign. Witwer and the crew reviewed the character's previous appearances to ensure they were exploring questions about him that had not been answered before—including some that Witwer already knew the answer to—such as: why did Maul not reveal that his former master
Palpatine was secretly a
Sith lord, seemingly remaining loyal to Palpatine despite being discarded and replaced; how does a character who is "from a time of knights and magic" feel about the Empire "sucking the magic and life and color out of the galaxy"; how does he feel about the destruction of the
Jedi Order, his life-long enemy, which Witwer compared to the
Joker from
DC Comics living on after the death of
Batman; and how does Maul's approach to training an apprentice differ from how Palpatine and other Sith have trained apprentices in the past? Witwer described the series as "bad guys versus worse guys", and said they would not try to redeem Maul. Rau said even Witwer was surprised by some of the new aspects they were discovering about the character. Witwer used his
Star Wars knowledge to bring depth and authenticity to Maul, and to help introduce the other cast members to the franchise. Michnovetz explained that the series is set on the planet Janix, which features a city inside a crater. He compared it to both
Gotham City and
Metropolis from DC Comics, with a functioning democracy and law enforcement that has formed a "peaceful accord" with local criminals and gangsters. It features "different levels and layers" like previous
Star Wars cities. Maul decides to rebuild his criminal syndicate on Janix because it is untouched by the Empire, although the Empire is gaining power throughout the galaxy and appears in the series through the Jedi-hunting
Inquisitors. Michnovetz described them as "secret mercenaries that show up out of the darkness".
Casting Sam Witwer was confirmed to be reprising his role as Maul with the series' announcement. He suggested that sound designer David W. Collins could have a role in the series, similar to how Collins voiced the
droid PROXY in the video game
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) which starred Witwer as Galen Marek / Starkiller. Further cast members were announced in January 2026:
Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara;
Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson;
Richard Ayoade, who previously voiced the droid
Q9-0 or "Zero" in the live-action
Star Wars series
The Mandalorian (2019–2023), as "Two-Boots"; Collins as Spybot;
Vanessa Marshall reprising her role as Rook Kast from
The Clone Wars;
Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio Daki;
Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario;
Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson;
Steve Blum as Icarus; and
A. J. LoCascio as the Inquisitor Marrok. Marrok was introduced in the
first season of the live-action series
Ahsoka (2023), where he was portrayed by Paul Darnell. Marshall and Blum both starred in
Rebels, respectively as
Hera Syndulla and
Zeb Orrelios, and Michnovetz said
Maul – Shadow Lord features "a greatest hits package" of voice actors returning from previous
Star Wars projects.
Clancy Brown and
Ewan McGregor are credited as their respective
Star Wars characters
Savage Opress and
Obi-Wan Kenobi for flashbacks, though it is unclear if they recorded new dialogue or if archival recordings were used. For those flashbacks, Witwer voiced
Darth Sidious, as he did in some previous projects starting with
The Force Unleashed, and also young Savage.
Scott Whyte voices
Dryden Vos, replacing
Paul Bettany who portrayed the character in the film
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
Animation and design As with the previous
Star Wars animated series, the animation was provided by
CGCG, Inc. and Lucasfilm Animation's internal team. Key creatives returned from previous Lucasfilm Animation projects, including animation supervisor Keith Kellogg, cinematography and effects lead Joel Aron, and sound designer David W. Collins. Portillo said the crew improved all aspects of their work compared to the previous series, including the quality of assets, body mechanics, facial animation, lighting, effects, and
matte paintings, even when compared to their most recent work on
The Bad Batch and
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld (2025). She attributed the improvements to Filoni challenging the crew to move out of their comfort zones and avoid becoming complacent. Filoni praised the team's work on the series, saying they were "actually creating cinema" with the new episodes. The series features a similar animation style to
The Clone Wars and the other previous series, but is more stylized to reflect its focus on Maul and the "gritty" setting of the planet Janix. Filoni described the style as "in that
Clone Wars world, but a little bit more extreme". Witwer called it "more edgy and jagged and dangerous", and said Aron was giving the series "painterly malice and thick shadows and reds and purples and all kinds of incredible lighting". Aron took inspiration from classic filmmaking techniques to include physical elements in the series, including painting brush strokes on glass and photographing them so they could be inserted into the animation, and creating matte paintings on physical canvases rather than making them with digital tools. Kellogg worked with the animators at CGCG and Lucasfilm to improve the performances of the lead characters. Portillo stated that Witwer influenced the nuances in Maul's performance, and gave as an example a
tea ceremony Maul conducts with Devon. This was based on a tea ceremony that Witwer took part in while in Japan.
Music Composers
Kevin,
Sean, and Deana Kiner returned from previous
Star Wars animated series. They finished composing the score for the final episode and were ready to record it in late January 2026. The first track from their score, "Shadow Lord", was released digitally by
Walt Disney Records on April 9, 2026, ahead of a full soundtrack album release for the first season on May 4. == Marketing ==