Star Wars: The Clone Wars may have ended in 2020, but a certain character has more story to tell. In a first for the Star Wars franchise, an animated Star Wars villain is continuing his Clone Wars story in his own solo Disney+ series.
As revealed at 2025's Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, a new animated series centered on Darth Maul, Maul—Shadow Lord, will premiere on Disney+ in 2026. This marks the first time a predominantly animated villain is heading his own show, extending and expanding on The Clone Wars lore in a semi-sequel meets spin-off.
According to longtime Maul voice actor, Sam Witwer (via Variety), Maul—Shadow Lord takes place "about a year" after Ahsoka "kicked him to the curb" in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars finale (see how their epic duel was created in a behind-the-scenes video here). Witwer further revealed that Palpatine's former apprentice is "dusting himself off a bit" and teased that audiences will "learn some different things about this character:"
“He’s got some different traits that you wouldn’t necessarily think he has that make perfect sense from what he’s been through.”
Darth Maul made his Star Wars debut in live-action in 1999's The Phantom Menace, where he seemingly died at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, Lucasfilm resurrected the villain for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and continued his tale in Star Wars Rebels, which precedes A New Hope. He has also appeared in other Star Wars projects set before Rebels, including a live-action cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The gap in time between Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the original Star Wars trilogy has proved rich with storytelling potential. Therefore, Maul—Shadow Lord is far from the first to expand on the events and storylines established by The Clone Wars, even though his solo show is sure to offer an entirely different perspective.
The following is a list of the Star Wars shows set in the same time period as Maul - Shadow Lord and how they connect to Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
6 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Disney+ Sequels & Spin-offs
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Picking up amidst the events of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Bad Batch continued The Clone Wars tradition of humanizing clone troopers while showing audiences their perspective of Order 66, the aftermath, and life after the fall of the Republic. The three-season series also featured Clone Wars-era characters, including Asajj Ventress (but did her return break Star Wars canon?), Rex, Palpatine, Cad Bane, and Saw Gerrera.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
While Obi-Wan Kenobi is a live-action series set a decade after The Clone Wars finale, the Ewan McGregor-led show comes with the baggage of both the prequels and the animated series while exploring the state of the Jedi post-Order 66. Furthermore, the 2022 series included a Clone Wars-era Clone trooper (find out which 501st trooper he is), bringing their tragic story into live-action storytelling.
Andor
Another live-action Disney+ series set in the lead-up to the original trilogy, Andor explores the rise of the rebellion through Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Cassian Andor. The acclaimed two-season show also spotlights the Imperial politics that played a part in The Clone Wars and features Saw Gerrera, played by Forest Whitaker, who was first introduced in the Lucasfilm Animation series.
Tales of the Jedi
Consisting of six shorts, 2022's Tales of the Jedi is both a prequel and sequel to The Clone Wars in that it expands on the journeys of series stars Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton).
Tales of the Empire
A darker follow-up to Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire debuted in 2023. Much like Tales of the Jedi, it consisted of six shorts and featured characters from The Clone Wars, including Barriss Offee. Ahsoka's former friend, Barriss, turned on the Jedi Order and framed Ahsoka for attacking the Jedi Temple, contributing to Anakin's Padawan walking away from the Order in The Clone Wars.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld
Released in May 2025, Tales of the Underworld followed the same format as its six-episode predecessors but focused on two bounty hunters and recurring stars from The Clone Wars: Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) and Cad Bane (Corey Burton), the latter whose backstory surprised fans.
Maul—Shadow Lord arrives on Disney+ in 2026.
