Following the striking first trailer in January, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is doubling down on its reworked art style and darker tone with a second trailer that harkens back to The Clone Wars’ best episode arcs.
As it turns out, he went back into the shadows and built up a crime syndicate known as Crimson Dawn, but that didn’t happen overnight, and Shadow Lord aims to elaborate on that and more. At least that’s what the second (and probably final) trailer promises.
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Maul is a dirtier, grungier imagining of the Star Wars universe, leaning into the darker moments of shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The art style is messier than those shows’, with an almost Claymation-meets-live-action look. Maul is seen slicing and dicing cops and criminals, and some scenes look like they came straight out of a slasher flick.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is set to debut on April 6 with a two-episode premiere, with the rest of the ten-episode season releasing weekly after that. This release leaves the May the 4th slot potentially wide open for another surprise anthology series that may or may not happen. Feast your eyes on the stunning new poster below, too:
Alongside Witwer – a Star Wars animation (and video game) legend – Gideon Adlon co-leads as the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara, who seems to be getting too close to the dark side for comfort.
Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) is also on the run and not willing to lose her padawan to the fallen Sith. Meanwhile, Captain Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and his droid partner, Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), will begin to look into Maul’s criminal spree before it’s too late.
This is all happening under Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader’s noses as the Empire begins to grow, so don’t be surprised if they show up one way or another. We haven’t heard about Season 2 plans yet, but we’re not expecting a ‘one and done’ kind of deal, especially when Star Wars’ TV future seems thinner and most creative efforts are movie-oriented again.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord was co-created and developed by Dave Filoni (now co-president and creative honcho at Lucasfilm) and Matt Michnovetz, a Star Wars vet with both animation and Star Wars Jedi game experience. Brad Rau (The Bad Batch) is once again serving as supervising director.