'Maul: Shadow Lord' Animated Series Announced At Star Wars Celebration
Sam Witwer will return to the role he assumed in 'The Clone Wars', and the series will premiere in 2026
When Star Wars: The Bad Batch ended last May, it left a void. The Star Wars franchise had no ongoing animated series for the non-preschool demographic that could function in traditional television parameters and wouldn’t drop all of a season’s episodes on a single day like Tales and Visions do. What was going to help sustain Lucasfilm Animation more substantially? To close out day 1 of Star Wars Celebration Japan, a panel was held for the studio’s 20th anniversary, and while Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy crashed the start of the The Mandalorian and Grogu panel, franchises veteran Sam Witwer appeared at the end to announce he’ll be reprising his role as Darth Maul for the very series to fill that void: Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, set to premiere on Disney+ in 2026.
Witwer first began portraying Maul on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and continued with Star Wars: Rebels. The character of course debuted in live-action in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed physically by Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. This new series sees Maul plot to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. Panelists Lucasfilm CCO Dave Filoni and Vice President of animation Athena Portillo showcased an early look at the series’ new animation style in an in-room-only sizzle reel as the closing shot. Portillo said fans can expect to learn “a lot” about Maul in the series. “Unfortunately I can’t tell you too much, but what I can say is Sam Witwer’s involvement in the show has been pristine,” she said. “I’m very excited about him being able to review the scripts and provide input in all of that as well. Dave Filoni and Sam created the character for animation, and so it’s very important to hear his thoughts as well for the character depth.”
'Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures' Sets Season 3 For Fall Premiere
Oh Japan, Tokyo specifically, your time zones of great inconvenience shine through this weekend as you host Star Wars Celebration. In the late Eastern Time hours, with someone dressed in full Nubs costume, it was announced that the preschool-aimed animated series
Witwer revealed that the series takes place “about a year” after the Clone Wars, so he’s “dusting himself off a bit” after Ahsoka “kicked him to the curb.” “We learn some different things about this character,” he continued. “He’s got some different traits that you wouldn’t necessarily think he has that make perfect sense from what he’s been through.”
Marvel Studios Vision Series Casts Ruaridh Mollica, Adds Directors
It’s not often you see yourself going from parody to parody target, but that’s exactly what is going on here. Ruaridh Mollica, who became familiarized to American audiences with his recurring role on the superhero movie-spoofing HBO series The Franchise
