Ricky Church review the Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord two-episode series premiere ‘The Dark Revenge’ and ‘Sinister Schemes’…
Maul is back and up to his usual ambitious scheming in the new animated series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. The two-episode series premiere captivates with a vibrant world, beautiful animation, intriguing new characters and insight into Maul’s personality in this post-Order 66 era.
Taking place some months after the events of The Clone Wars finale and Revenge of the Sith, the series picks up on the planet Janix with Maul arriving to exact vengeance on crime lords who betrayed him after his fall during the Siege of Mandalore. His quest connects with a pair of exiled Jedi, including a Padawan who Maul seeks to turn into a new apprentice as the law gets on their trail.
The first noticeable aspect of the series is it visual look which gives it a more distinctive colour palette than The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Bad Batch. Much of the background scenery looks like a watercolour painting right out of Ralph McQuarrie’s incredible artwork for the original films, which also makes the characters and vehicles stand out even more. As expected for a Star Wars animated series, the animation is extremely detailed with fluid movements and facial expressions from the characters to the choreography of the action with Maul’s saber technique and speeder chases through the city. The action itself also varies, but relies more on Maul’s regular henchmen and the police than Maul’s Force powers, giving it more of a grounded feeling before the deadlier enemies arrive later this season.
Sam Witwer once again does a great job as Maul, providing him with more layers and nuance than his brute force as a Sith Lord. Witwer conveys Maul’s calculating mind and ruthlessness as well as his ability to adapt to a situation. Seeing Maul reinvent himself is nothing new after his resurrection and crumbling of his criminal syndicate, but this version of Maul seems to have grown more patient and cunning, especially now that he is a bit more on the ‘right’ side with his goal being to circumvent Darth Sidious and the Empire’s authority. It opens up a wealth of possibilities for Maul’s story despite audiences knowing how it ultimately ends in Rebels.
As for the new characters, Wagner Moura’s detective Brander Lawson is already intriguing in just the first episode ‘The Dark Revenge’ as a reasonable authority figure untouched by the both the underworld and Empire’s corruption. Moura provides a great vocal performance that showcases Lawson’s integrity, intelligence and resolve as he plays by the book but not enough that he’s willing to involve the Empire unless absolutely necessary or his attempts to empathize with padawan Devon Izara.
Voiced by Gideon Adlon, Devon didn’t get as much screentime in either episode compared to Maul or Lawson, but engages in her own way as she adheres less to the black-and-white morality of the Jedi Order now that she and her master are on the run for survival. Adlon gives Devon a bite to her personality as she expresses her bitterness through subtle ways in her line delivery that is matched by the animation on her facial features. Her interactions with Maul are interesting in how they act as a foil to each other as well as how Maul serves as the other side to her master’s faith in the Force and general human kindness.
Other voices include Richard Ayoade as Lawson’s droid partner Two-Boots, Vanessa Marshall as Maul’s Mandalorian second-in-command Rook Kast, Chris Diamantopoulos as crime boss Looti Vario and Dennis Haysbert as Jedi Master Eeko-Dio-Daki. The cast gives great performances, providing each character with their own personalities and vocal ticks.
Just based upon these two episodes, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord offers fans a deep dive into this era of Star Wars with intriguing characters and stories for Maul and Devon’s journey together. The writing for both episodes is tightly paced with crisp dialogue, character dynamics and themes with gorgeous animation that is both detailed and vibrant. Fans of the galaxy far, far away and of Maul himself will have a lot to enjoy in the opening of this new series.
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
