Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord breathes a bit of life into a stock villain

Eventually, though, head writer Matt Michnovetz & co. get to the central point, which is less about Maul’s deeds than the devil’s bargain he provides. In a dismal period where the space fascists have won and are pressing down their boot heels, what good is the Jedi’s morally simplistic creed? Devon, who lives as a refugee alongside her mentor, Master Eeko-Dio-Daki, is forced to suppress her powers and live on the run at the behest of her anti-confrontational teacher. When Maul offers to team up so they can strike down their common enemy, Darth Sidious, this proposal takes on a different tinge than the series’ usual dark-side temptations, mostly because Maul sort of has a point: Sometimes you need to call a truce with a lesser evil to fight a greater one. Instead of the classical posturing of good versus evil, where the bad guy offers a Faustian bargain with a barely concealed sparkle of madness in their eye, here the choice is more similar to the compelling compromises Cassian Andor dealt with.  

It isn’t just Devon who faces tough choices. Detective Lawson (a reminder that Star Wars names are not subtle) has to navigate similarly thorny decisions as he attempts to keep the Empire in the dark about Maul’s rampage. He knows that if the Imperials are notified, they’ll use the chaos to justify putting Star Destroyers in orbit around Janex. Even without these ships hanging over the planet, you can feel the Empire’s shadow in every decision, a tension that leaks into personal lives as Lawson navigates an uncomfortable political divide with his ex and his relationship with his robocop partner. Similarly, Maul has more going on than many of his red-saber-wielding counterparts. 

Maul also delivers a great deal of what’s become the main event for a certain type of Star Wars fan: acrobatic lightsaber duels. Sharp animation and punchy choreography highlight this warrior’s spasms of violence, as he slices through criminal rivals like he’s reaping wheat. Do these scenes entirely lack restraint and reflect the series’ overwillingness to cram a bazillion Jedi and Sith into an era where the miracles of the Force are supposed to be dead due to fascism? Yes. However, if a show is going to fixate on laser swords, it should at least do it right. Not only are these fights stylish, but they sell Devon’s pull toward the dark side, as her bouts with this Sith Lord grow increasingly violent and complicated.

Over the years, Lucasfilm’s animators have continued to hone an eye-catching approach that smoothly combines 2D backdrops and 3D foregrounds, something they use here to craft moody street corners and derelict buildings-turned-lairs. The direction convincingly whisks us through these noir-tinged cityscapes as wipes and orchestral interludes evoke a classic Star Wars feel. 

But even though Lucasfilm Animation has the series’ trademark aesthetic down pat, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord doesn’t break the feeling that this fictional universe is rapidly shrinking. With Dave Filoni as the new president of Lucasfilm, it seems fair to assume we’ll be getting more tie-ins to his past work going forward, which would mean many more projects based on existing characters instead of new ones. Andor managed to deliver nuanced material despite being set in a well-established period, but it also had something that Shadow Lord lacks: a new vision for Star Wars. This show doesn’t have that same insight, and while it delivers what some hardcore fans want (more light saber fights, say), it abandons a galaxy of possibilities in the process. 

Elijah Gonzalez is The A.V. Club’s associate editor. Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord premieres April 6 on Disney+.