Star Wars finally made one of its most iconic prequel villains even better through a Disney+ appearance, marking the eighth time that the franchise has improved an antagonist from that era in a later project. Star Wars has always been known as a franchise with A-tier villains, but not every bad guy totally resonates with fans. However, Star Wars has a great track record when it comes to making characters (both good and bad) and their stories better as time goes on.
Maul - Shadow Lord is Star Wars’ latest Disney+ project, and nearly everyone agrees that it has brought something new and exciting to the galaxy far, far away. While it has compelling dialogue, flashy action sequences, and some well-earned cameos, when the show is completely stripped down to its core, it is a character study on perhaps the most notable villain from the Star Wars prequels, Darth Maul.
Maul was first introduced 27 years ago in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, and he was exceptionally popular thanks to his character design and the fact that he had a double-bladed lightsaber. In that project, Maul didn't talk much. Peter Serafinowicz (the actor who voiced Maul in that movie) only spoke a few lines of dialogue, making Maul nothing more than a highly-skilled assassin with a really cool look.
After Maul was sliced in half by Obi-Wan at the end of The Phantom Menace, many Star Wars fans simply had an “oh well” approach. Yes, he was a fun character, but there was no substance to him, and he was extremely surface-level and one-dimensional.
However, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4, it was revealed that Maul actually survived his encounter with Obi-Wan due to how much rage and hatred he held. Throughout Seasons 4 and 5 of that animated series, Maul became a much more compelling character on many different levels.
Then, Maul returned again in Star Wars Rebels, which added even more layers to him. He also made a quick appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and fans were even more interested to see what would come next for him.
However, out of all of Maul’s appearances throughout Star Wars canon, none hold a candle to Maul - Shadow Lord in terms of how much his character was improved since his introduction in the prequels. The new Disney+ show found a way to peel back all of his layers and focus on each one of them instead of just showing what is at the core.
For example, Shadow Lord has really delved into Maul’s psyche on the most basic level. Viewers have seen him express every possible emotion, and then the show has explicitly explained why he felt those emotions, or has heavily implied the reasons.
For the first time, the way Maul looks at himself has been revealed as well. For instance, in Episode 8, when Maul is seeing visions of his past, it is quite clear he almost hates what he has become and the way that his life revolves around rage and revenge. In turn, his story has also turned quite tragic, as Shadow Lord has proved that he simply cannot overcome the Dark Side and Sith qualities that Darth Sidious tortured into him as a child.
It is also worth mentioning that Shadow Lord has simply shown a different side of Maul than any of the other projects he has ever been in. His top priority is undoubtedly to start his criminal underworld back up, as well as to get Devon Izara to become his apprentice, but Shadow Lord has spent a lot of time proving to fans that Maul is taking different approaches to achieve his goals than he did in the past.
The show has also simply explored a lot of mature characterization when it comes to Maul, such as how trauma has molded him and completely changed his outlook on life. On many different levels, Maul has been vulnerable.
Maul - Shadow Lord is undisputedly and objectively the best project Star Wars has ever created in terms of improving Maul as a character. Every appearance he has ever made has made him a better character and a better villain, but Shadow Lord does so much for Maul that it wouldn't be a stretch to say it improves his character more than any of those other shows and movies combined.
Maul came into The Phantom Menace as a cool bad guy with a double-bladed lightsaber and an exciting fighting style. Now, at the end of Maul - Shadow Lord Season 1 (a second season is already on the way), he is arguably a top 5 Star Wars character of all time, and could be the franchise’s second-greatest villain behind Darth Vader.
Every Star Wars Prequel Villain Who Has Been Improved In Later Projects
Count Dooku
The second movie in the prequel trilogy, Attack of the Clones, introduced fans to Count Dooku and set him up as sort of the replacement for Darth Maul. Dooku was established as Sidious' new apprentice, but he was automatically a more interesting character because the movie also made it clear that Dooku was a former Jedi.
Dooku also appeared in the third prequel title, Revenge of the Sith, and many fans would agree that he was at least a decent character just from those two projects. However, Dooku has popped up in other canon stories since, and they have only made his character even better.
Just as The Clone Wars significantly improved characters like Maul, Anakin Skywalker, Palpatine, Mace Windu, and many more, it also gave Dooku so much more depth. Across the series' seven seasons, Dooku's relationship with Palpatine was more fleshed out, he was acquainted with characters like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous, and he had multiple run-ins with Anakin and Obi-Wan, making his death in Revenge of the Sith even more impactful.
However, it is also important to note that Dooku appeared in a Disney+ series called Tales of the Jedi. Three of the six episodes in that show were completely centered around Dooku during his time as a Jedi, and they fully explored his turn to the Dark Side, which ultimately made his character so much better.
It is also worth mentioning that Dooku has been included in numerous canon comic books and numerous canon novels as well, all of which improved him as a Star Wars character.
Barriss Offee
Barriss Offee is perhaps the most improved character who was introduced in the prequels. In those live-action films, Barriss probably didn't even have a minute of total screentime, but she became an extremely important character in The Clone Wars and Tales of the Empire.
The Clone Wars spent some time exploring Barriss and her relationship with certain characters, such as Ahsoka Tano, but in the fifth season of the animated series, Barriss shockingly turned on the Jedi Order and helped orchestrate an attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
This action directly led to Ahsoka being accused of attacking the Order, which in turn caused Ahsoka to walk away from the Jedi after she was proven innocent. Many believe that if Barriss had never done this, and Ahsoka had not left the Order, Anakin might have never turned to the Dark Side and become Darth Vader.
Barriss also appeared in Tales of the Empire. A lot of fans didn't regard that series as highly as they did Tales of the Jedi, but it did objectively give Barriss more depth as a character, and it gave her a bit of a redemption arc.
Jango Fett
Jango Fett was introduced in Attack of the Clones as a bounty hunter, the father of Boba Fett, and the template for the clone army on Kamino. Jango didn't live through the same movie he was introduced in, but his character has been made better through canon comic books and other TV shows.
Most notably, Marvel Comics released a four-issue comic series in 2024 titled Jango Fett, which was set before the events of The Phantom Menace and gave the character a bit of a backstory.
While Jango didn't actually appear in shows like The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, those projects still improved his character through different plotlines and dialogue. For example, since Jango was the original template for the clones, he was referenced all throughout both shows.
Mas Amedda
Mas Amedda's first appearance came in The Phantom Menace, as he was introduced by Palpatine through dialogue with Padme Amidala as a bureaucrat who was on the Trade Federation's payroll. Essentially, Palpatine said that he was the one controlling Chancellor Valorum and making the decisions, as he was in league with the Trade Federation.
Mas Amedda appeared throughout the rest of the prequel films as one of Palpatine's advisors. However, his character became even more important in later shows, canon novels, and comic books.
Specifically, Mas Amedda popped up throughout The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, and it was made clear that he actually held a decent amount of power (at Palpatine's discretion, of course). Mas Amedda was directly part of Palpatine's scheme to destroy the Republic and turn it into the Galactic Empire.
Comic books and novels revealed that Mas Amedda was the head of Palpatine's Imperial Ruling Council, which was a group of advisors who played a large behind-the-scenes role in making decisions for the whole of the Empire. Later on, after the Imperial Ruling Council disbanded, it was brought back as the Shadow Council, which will be featured in The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis is sort of a legendary character who has only technically appeared on-screen in one brief moment. However, he was introduced by Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, in a scene that could arguably be deemed the most important in Star Wars.
Essentially, Palpatine told Anakin about Plagueis' life to continue to coax Anakin to turn to the Dark Side. Not much else was revealed about Plagueis in canon, but later on, he appeared in the Darth Vader comics, which improved his character exponentially.
Most notably, though, Plagueis officially appeared on-screen for the first time ever in Disney+'s The Acolyte. He only made a brief cameo at the end of the show (which was ultimately canceled), but the fact that he even showed up proves Star Wars may be ready to explore his life on-screen in full.
Nute Gunray
Nute Gunray was a major antagonist in The Phantom Menace and then a minor antagonist throughout the rest of the prequel trilogy. The character was the viceroy of the Trade Federation and was directly responsible for blockading Naboo, which set the events of The Phantom Menace in place.
The prequels never gave a lot of substance to Nute Gunray, despite his appearance in all three films. He was more or less a pawn Palpatine used to help bring down the Republic, and he did his job well.
However, like many other characters on this list, Nute Gunray showed up all throughout The Clone Wars, which greatly improved his character. That show made the Trade Federation seem more dangerous than the prequels ever did.
It is also worth noting that Nute Gunray popped up in multiple canon novels, as well as the canon Darth Vader comics. One of the most important scenes in the prequels happened on Mustafar when Anakin (who was then operating under the name Darth Vader) killed the Separatist leaders, including Gunray. In that scene, Anakin can be seen crying as he realizes he is striking down living people in cold blood.
In the Darth Vader comics, Anakin returned to Mustafar as Vader and began having flashbacks of that moment. Without explicitly stating it, the comic implied that those flashbacks haunted Vader.
Poggle the Lesser
Poggle the Lesser is the Geonosian antagonist who appeared in Attack of the Clones. He was a surface-level villain with really no depth at all, but he did return in The Clone Wars, which helped improve his character.
However, Poggle's most notable appearance came in a canon novel titled Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel. That book explained that, after Poggle was captured by the Republic during the events of the prequels, he was forced by Orson Krennic (from Rogue One and Andor), who was working for the Republic as a lieutenant in the Special Weapons Group, to help build the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, which would eventually become the Death Star.
This book gave Poggle a lot of depth and actually made him sympathetic, in a sense. It also showed that the Republic was hardly different from the Empire, especially in its final days.
