Maul voice actor Sam Witwer recently revealed a lot of major plot details for the upcoming animated Star Wars series titled Maul: Shadow Lord, and fans will definitely find the series more exciting after hearing what he had to say. Maul: Shadow Lord was announced at Star Wars Celebration in Japan. It will serve as a sequel series to The Clone Wars and be animated in the same style, but will also act as a prequel to Star Wars Rebels since Maul played a major role in part of that show.
Witwer recently appeared at Rebel Scum Con, a Star Wars convention, where he talked about appearing in the upcoming Maul: Shadow Lord series. While there, the actor, who has portrayed Maul for over a decade now, shared specific plot details from the show and pulled back the curtain on what it will be all about.
Maul: Shadow Lord is expected to be released on Disney+ sometime in 2026. It will be the first time in Star Wars history that a villain will be headlining their own project.
Every Detail Sam Witwer Revealed Regarding Maul: Shadow Lord
As shared by Hyperdrive A Star Wars Channel via YouTube, Sam Witwer talked about specific details regarding Maul: Shadow Lord during his recent appearance at Rebel Scum Con. The actor dove into everything from when the series takes place within the Star Wars timeline to the possibility of Maul having an apprentice in the show.
Maul: Shadow Lord Takes Place Shortly After the Fall of the Jedi Order
One of the major revelations about Maul: Shadow Lord that came directly from Sam Witwer's mouth was when the show would take place. Previously, it was known that it would be sometime between The Clone Wars and Rebels, but Witwer confirmed that it will be closer to The Clone Wars and explore the earliest days of the Empire's rise to power.
Particularly, it will show the Empire's rise from the perspective of Maul, which will be notable to Maul since, according to Witwer, "he was helping to make the Empire for a while until he quit working for Palpatine." Essentially, fans will see Maul discover that the Empire was not what he thought it would be:
"It takes place shortly after the end of the Clone Wars. So this is the very beginning of the Empire. And Maul, he was helping to make the Empire for a while until he quit working for Palpatine. He quit. And he was hanging out on a garbage planet after that, and then other things happened. But basically, this guy is looking around, going, 'Is this what we had in mind? 'Cause I didn't think it was going to be this. I thought it was going to be something different.'"
The Darth Maul actor's words also indicate that Maul envisioned that the Empire would revolve around the Force and that, somehow, the Jedi could be involved. Specifically, he teased that Maul will almost miss the Jedi and wonder what happened to them:
"'Cause Maul comes from a land of magic, and color, and knights, and dragons, and now all of that is dead. And the magic and the colors being sucked out of the galaxy by this mechanical, maniacal empire, and Maul is going like, 'What happened to the Jedi Knights?'"
By the time Shadow Lord takes place within the timeline, the massacre that happened on Dathomir at the hands of General Grievous will have already taken place, which will likely play a part in Maul feeling that "the magic and the colors being sucked out of the galaxy." In essence, Maul is still not necessarily a hero, but he seemingly won't be a fan of Palpatine's Empire.
Maul May Have a New Apprentice
During his appearance at the convention, Witwer also gave a groundbreaking tease that Maul could have an apprentice in the upcoming Disney+ series.
Witwer made sure not to outright say if Maul will have an apprentice or not, but he included that Maul "perhaps has some wisdom to pass on to the next generation:"
"And he's really reassessing almost everything about his life in the beginning of this story, and he perhaps has some wisdom to pass on to the next generation, because what's a master without an apprentice?"
It is worth noting that George Lucas reportedly wanted Maul to return in his own sequel trilogy that he was supposedly working on before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. According to reports, Lucas had outlines and treatments of a sequel trilogy where Maul was paired with Darth Talon, a female Twi'lek with similar tattoos to Maul.
In Lucas' plans, the two would be master and apprentice, and would serve as antagonists in his sequels. This obviously never happened, but it is possible that Darth Talon could make the jump from Legends to canon and that she could be the apprentice Witwer was teasing.
Of course, Talon never appeared in Star Wars Rebels, and neither did any other apprentice of Maul's. So, if one does appear in the upcoming series, they will likely have to die before the end of the show.
Maul's Transition from Clone Wars to Rebels
As mentioned, Maul appeared in both The Clone Wars and Rebels. Despite being the same character, he was fundamentally different in each project. For example, Clone Wars Maul was still quite brutal and hungry for power. He displayed that through his actions on Mandalore.
In Rebels, on the other hand, Maul seemed quite different. He was more philosophical and, on some kind of scale, even had regard for human life. The most telling part of his character was when he died at the hands of Obi-Wan. Instead of acting like a true villain and only being focused on himself, he asked Obi-Wan if Luke Skywalker was truly the Chosen One and asked if he would bring balance to the Force.
That indicated that, in his final moments, Maul seemed to care about the fate of the galaxy and about the Force being in balance. So, fans have to learn in Maul: Shadow Lord how Maul went from his character traits in The Clone Wars to the way he acted in Rebels.
During his interview, Witwer mentioned those "real differences" in the character between the two shows. Specifically, the actor teased that the series will explore "more about who he is and what's messing with him:"
"What's funny is that there are real differences in Maul's character between 'Clone Wars' and 'Rebels.' And I played him very differently between the two. And so that necessitates a lot of questions like, 'Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. When did he start talking like this?' Or, 'When did he start this up?' Now, this Maul is a lot closer to the 'Clone Wars' Maul, but this is a situation where, because we're doing a show that has Maul in the title, it allows us to do things that we couldn't do before... And we will be learning more about who he is and what's messing with him."
Witwer did make sure to talk about how Maul will still be a "bad guy" in Maul: Shadow Lord. However, he noted "there's a difference between him" and characters like Palpatine and Vader:
"We don't change the idea that this is a bad guy, but it is in fact a show about bad guys versus worse guys. And there's a difference between him and... you have got Palpatine and Vader, which Palpatine's like 10 out of 10 when it comes to villainy. Vader's like 9.8 out of 10, unless you happen to be his son. And then, you have Maul, who's more like an 8.5.
By the end of Maul: Shadow Lord, fans will likely see Maul go through a full character arc that will include a lot of fundamental changes to his character. However, he will still be "a very dangerous individual:"
The Sith would look at Maul and say, 'This guy has a lot of flaws.' The Jedi would look at those same flaws and be like, 'That is the only redeeming thing about you. Go with that.' So with Maul, there are certain things that he's learned in these shows that we saw through 'The Clone Wars' that he has now kind of changed his perspective on a few things, but he is still a very dangerous individual."
Sam Witwer's Suggestions Made Changes to the Show
There is no dispute that Sam Witwer is extremely knowledgeable about Star Wars. Time and time again, he has proven that he understands the story and the themes deeply.
This knowledge he has came in handy for the show's executives and creative minds, because suggestions he made actively changed the course of the series.
For instance, Witwer revealed that he talked about aspects of Maul's character publicly while the show was still being developed. This made the actor quite nervous, because he claimed he "talked about of bunch of stuff that's not on the show." However, he was then informed that some of those things he brought up "started appearing in episodes:"
"I had a whole bunch of pitches. So then I go to [Star Wars Celebration] Japan and I talk about what I just talked about with you guys. And then I went to Athena [Portillo] and I'm like, 'Yeah, so I really blew it, because I just talked about a bunch of stuff that's not on the show.' And she's like, 'Just give it a second.' And then I come back and, within a month, those things started appearing in episodes, 'cause they were working on them and they were like, 'No, no, have faith. It's what you wanted. It is what you wanted.' So now I feel nervous in a different way because I'm like, 'Well, if people don't like it, I am every bit as responsible as anyone. It's my fault as much as it's anyone's fault.'"
Fans Will Love Maul: Shadow Lord
Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels are widely loved by the Star Wars fanbase and are considered some of the best projects within the franchise. That automatically puts a lot of pressure on Maul: Shadow Lord, but fans should feel relieved.
As mentioned, Witwer knows a lot about Star Wars and has a good understanding of what the franchise needs. So, when he stated that he "really [likes] the show," and that it is "a cool show," Star Wars fans should trust his judgment:
"I really like the show. And I say that having seen, I mean all of, through various iterations, but I've also seen finished episodes where I'm like, 'I like this show. This is a cool show. Very different show that we've done.'"
