The next Star Wars release will be a break from the traditional genre for Lucasfilm, as Maul - Shadow Lord prepares to defy expectations. The animated Disney+ series continues the journey of the Sith Lord from the prequel trilogy, exploring the character's dealings after The Clone Wars. Maul - Shadow Lord already brings a unique animation style to the table, but it is also expanding into an exciting new genre for the Star Wars franchise.
Maul - Shadow Lord is many things. It maintains the futuristic sci-fi atmosphere of previous Star Wars fare, it delves into the criminal underworld of a cyberpunk-style planet, but where it truly breaks new ground is with its "cops-and-robbers" conceit. In an interview with Animation Magazine, Maul - Shadow Lord's animation supervisor, Keith Kellogg, revealed that this genre is something "we've never done."
"We’ve kind of never done a full-on, for lack of a better word, cops-and-robbers kind of Star Wars."
It's true that Star Wars is typically concerned with the duelling sides of the Jedi and the Sith, or the Empire and the Resistance, rather than the smaller-scale exploits of typical criminals and law enforcement. Nevertheless, this is something Maul - Shadow Lord has the chance to capitalize on, as it brings Star Wars' first cops-and-robbers show to the screen through the dynamic between Darth Maul and his police pursuers, Brander Lawson and Two-Boots.
Along with the police elements, Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord's official Disney+ page adds some additional genres into the mix. The series is listed as being in the crime, action, adventure, animation, and science fiction genres. For comparison, Disney+'s other animated Star Wars shows, The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Rebels, are only categorized as animation, action, adventure, and science fiction, making Maul - Shadow Lord's crime designation quite distinct for a show of this format.
Maul - Shadow Lord is shaping up to be one of the most unique entries in Lucasfilm's canon. The series brings back Sam Witwer to voice Darth Maul, and features Wagner Moura, Richard Ayoade, and Gideon Adlon in new roles. The series will begin streaming on Disney+ starting April 6.
Star Wars Projects That Go Beyond Sci-Fi
The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian was Lucasfilm's first foray into live-action serialised television, but it also went above and beyond in terms of its genre. The Mandalorian blends traditional space-opera elements of the Star Wars universe with a distinct Western tone.
The series follows Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin, a bounty hunter for hire, as he wanders the distant realms of the galaxy to take down targets. The concepts of gunslingers, bounty hunters, and lawless lands in The Mandalorian helped emulate the Western genre while infusing it with the typical Star Wars spacefaring tone.
Andor
While Star Wars has typically appealed to a family-friendly audience, Andor tried something different, telling a more complex, mature story firmly rooted in the political thriller genre.
Following Diego Luna's character, Cassian Andor, in the years before he appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and stole the plans to the Death Star, Andor became a phenomenon thanks, in large part, to its daring to be different. While the Star Wars prequels received backlash for getting too political, Andor managed to strike the right tone between character-driven drama, spy action, and political intrigue.
The Acolyte
The Acolyte was a show full of intrigue upon release, as it promised to explore the unexplored in Star Wars canon and reveal the origins of the Sith.
Set in the High Republic era, The Acolyte implemented an ongoing air of mystery, as Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) investigated a series of crimes. While there have been mysteries at the heart of plenty of Star Wars stories in the past, the sci-fi procedural elements of The Acolyte set it apart.
The Star Wars Holiday Special / LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
Christmas has become its own genre in recent decades, even latching onto established franchises to see what happens when familiar characters embrace the festive season. In the case of Star Wars, this has had varied results.
In 1978, CBS broadcast the first Star Wars Holiday Special, which featured the return of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher as their original trilogy characters. It was released before The Empire Strikes Back and involved Han and Chewie attempting to return to the Wookie home planet of Kashyyyk. The special gained notoriety for its poor reception.
Star Wars then tried again, this time embracing the LEGO world to bring this tone to life, with much more success. The freedom of the LEGO genre allowed Star Wars to truly lean into the festive fun, this time following Rey as she trains Finn to be Jedi while they celebrate the universe's Life Day. Released in 2020, the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special was much more positively received.
Unknown Star Wars Horror Project
While it's never quite clear what direction Star Wars might go next, recent reports suggest Lucasfilm is planning to lean into sci-fi horror. It's believed Lucasfilm is working on a horror series for Disney+ set in the Star Wars universe, which would be the first time the franchise has fully leaned into the horror genre.
It's not quite clear what kind of horror this story will take or what it will be based upon (although the non-canon novel Death Troopers might be a good option).
Nevertheless, after decades of capitalizing on the space opera genre, Star Wars has established a distinct tone for its films and series, so it's exciting to see the franchise expand in different directions.
