3 Things I Hope The New Darth Maul Show Gets Right

In previous articles, I’ve discussed how I went through the ordeal of watching all Star Wars shows/movies in chronological order. Ultimately, it led to me becoming a big fan of the animated Clone Wars show and its respective spinoffs (such as The Bad Batch and Star Wars Rebels). While the character is not exclusively from these shows, I believe Clone Wars and Rebels specifically did a great job at expanding the character of Darth Maul, who I always felt had untapped potential prior to watching the animated shows. While both shows fleshed out his character greatly, there is still more to be done with the character (in my opinion). Today, I will discuss three factors I hope Maul: Shadow Lord nails.

FACTOR ONE: GREAT ANIMATION

Although this is pretty obvious, it is still a necessity in my opinion. Based on the trailer, it seems like Lucasfilm (thankfully) nailed it. The art style shown in Shadow Lord’s teaser trailer seems like an improvement over previous Clone Wars installments, even with shows like The Bad Batch already showing off impressive visuals. To me, the short fight scenes highlighted in the trailer especially stood out due to the fluid and snappy animation style. I also appreciate the darker tone the series seems to be employing, as it matches the character of Maul perfectly. This tone leads directly into my next request for the series.

FACTOR TWO: DARK AND SERIOUS STORYLINE

While I don’t think the Disney era of Star Wars content has become too comedy-oriented, there has certainly been a shift from what is and is not shown, especially in the newer animated shows. To be clear, I’m not asking for excessive blood and gore in the show. However, I would hope the show doesn’t stray away from showing genuine violence, especially during Maul’s fighting scenes. It would feel odd to sanitize his character for general audiences, especially when violence and anger (and the misuse of this violence/anger) have always been a core pillar of his character.

FACTOR THREE: A GOOD CONCLUSION TO THE CHARACTER

This could possibly be the last time Darth Maul is used in a major Star Wars project, especially after his conclusive fate in Rebels. Ultimately, I hope the show does the character of Maul justice and clearly explains what happened between the events of Clone Wars and his appearance in Rebels. There is a lot of potential for an interesting storyline here, especially since his arc with Ahsoka is technically unfinished (although she would eventually face Maul later in Rebels). Additionally, I would like to see Maul utilize his manipulation tactics for (potentially) one final time. Specifically, I enjoy seeing Maul train others (such as Savage and Ezra) with the ulterior motive of making them obey his will. To me, this always makes for interesting dynamics between the characters. Luckily, it seems that something similar to these scenarios will happen with Maul’s new Padawan, known as Devon Izara. Overall, I am highly intrigued to see how Lucasfilm approaches Maul (and his new Padawan) in this show and if it will feel like a fitting end for his character.