Darth Maul voice actor Sam Witwer raised some eyebrows with some recent comments hyping up his upcoming return as the iconic saber-wielding Sith lord. Witwer has brought the beloved Prequels Era character to life for over a decade, playing him in the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series, Rebels, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and many other titles. However, he is finally set to get his own solo series as the daring Dathomirian in the upcoming Maul: Shadow Lord—one of many exciting announcements at Star Wars Celebration 2025.
In a recent interview, Sam Witwer provided fans with some of the first details regarding his forthcoming Star Wars return on Disney+. Witver is set to bring the terrifying Darth Maul to life once again in next year's Maul: Shadow Lord, but exact specifics on the series have remained scarce since its announcement.
Witwer touched on the upcoming animated Darth Maul series in an appearance on The Sackhoff Show podcast hosted by fellow Star Wars actor Katee Sackhoff, teasing the first real plot specifics fans have gotten about the show.
The Darth Maul voice actor said that Shadow Lord will focus on its titular Sith lord as he looks around the galaxy in the wake of the Empire's rise and begins to think he may be a man out of time.
"Is that what [Sidious] had in mind? This is a little scary," Witwer remarked, and after the fall of the Republic at the end of Revenge of the Sith, " all of that color of the universe is being sucked out:"
"[Maul’s] like, 'Is that what [Sidious] had in mind? This is a little scary.' … Maul comes from a time of swords and sorcery and 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’re trying to build?'"
He also teased that fans will "absolutely" see a level of emotional complexity for the character never before seen on screen, but he will still be Maul at the end of the day.
Witwer described the plot as "a story of bad guys versus worse guys," alluding to the idea of Maul technically being the hero of the story but not losing the darkness within him:
"It's a story of bad guys versus worse guys. Our bad guys are still bad guys. Like, this isn't going to be a show where you find out, 'Aww Maul is just a real teddy bear, man. He's just misunderstood. If you have coffee with him, he is really cool.' We are not doing that."
The Darth Maul star continued, saying that that the series will explore Maul's "humanity," asking the question of "even though he is a bad guy...is he as bad as [Darth] Sidious or Vader:"
"The idea of it is that even though he is a bad guy, the fun of it is going, 'Right, but is he as bad as Sidious or Vader?' And the answer is, actually, no. From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws, and these flaws are the things you are talking about the humanity that seeps in at various points. And some of this is humanity that he did not have maybe early in 'Clone Wars,' but because of thing that have happened to him, he had rethought a lot of things."
Witwer emphasized how the Phantom Menace villain is someone who was born and trained to kill Jedi, and now, in the series, he is asking himself, "Is this better?" and, "How do I feel now that I'm the Joker and Batman's dead:"
"You have a guy who comes from the time of magic, but times have changed. And then he was born and raised to destroy the Jedi, but now they're gone, and he's seeing the alternative and going, 'Is this better? I'm not sure this is better. And also, boy, how do I feel now that I'm the Joker and Batman's dead? What does that feel like?'"
Maul: Shadow Lord was announced as one of two new Star Wars TV series officially confirmed for 2026, centering on Sam Witer's horned anti-hero on an epic journey across the galaxy between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
The series will help commemorate 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation and is being headed up by Star Wars: Clone Wars writer Matt Michnovetz and Star Wars Rebels creative Brad Rau.
Maul: Shadow Lord Sounds Like a Star Wars Fans Dream
Coming out of Star Wars Celebration (which took place in April in Tokyo, Japan), little was known about Disney+'s Maul: Shadow Lord. Thankfully, though, voice actor Sam Witwer has dropped some key nuggets that should make this series one of the most anticipated upcoming titles from the galaxy far, far away.
Every time Maul has been seen on screen—especially regarding Witwer's take on the character)—the common sentiment among fans has been, 'Man, I wish I could have gotten more.'
Well, it looks as though Shadow Lord will offer exactly that. And with a relative dearth of titles on the Star Wars streaming slate (read more about every Star Wars series coming in the rest of 2025 and beyond here), this looks like it will be something for fans to look forward to.
The way Witwer describes it, Maul: Shadow Lord sounds like what the Star Wars brand has been doing with its literary ventures for years.
Some of the best books in the beloved sci-fi canon have been these tight character studies, diving deep into a fan-favorite character who may not have time to shine on-screen. This has been done with Asajj Ventress (Dark Disciple), Grand Admiral Thrawn (Thrawn), and many more. Now, it seems it is time for Darth Maul to get the same treatment, just by way of an animated series instead of a novel.
It will be fascinating for fans to have a full-on villain be the quote/unquote hero of a Star Wars streaming story. That is uncharted territory for the franchise at this scale and could serve as the foundation for a new, darker take on the Star Wars universe.
