Darth Maul Returns in New Disney+ Series ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ – 2026 Launch

by Annika April 19, 2025

The acclaimed Star Wars villain, Darth Maul, who first graced the screens in the 1999 film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is set to star in his own Disney+ animated series, Maul: Shadow Lord. The announcement was made at the Star Wars Celebration during a panel commemorating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation. The new show, featuring the voice of Sam Witwer, will debut in 2026 and will center around the plot of Maul mentoring an apprentice.

Darth Maul Returns in New Disney+ Series ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ – 2026 Launch

– A new animated series titled “Maul: Shadow Lord” centered on Darth Maul from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is announced for Disney+.
– The show will narrate the story of Darth Maul training an apprentice, set to premiere in 2026 with Sam Witwer voicing the lead character.
– The announcement of the series emerged as the Lucasfilm animation division marked its 20th anniversary, an event that also debuted a previz clip from the unmade sequence of the Clone Wars series and an episode from the forthcoming animated series “Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld”.

The renowned Darth Maul, who made his debut in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999, will be the star of the new animated series Maul: Shadow Lord for Disney+. This news was shared during the Star Wars Celebration event on Friday.

The announcement came during the concluding segment of a panel celebrating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation. Lucasfilm’s CCO Dave Filoni and the VP of animation, Athena Portillo, both of whom progressed their careers through the animation department, disclosed the rich content produced by the company. However, for the upcoming project reveal, they opted for a surprise trailer reveal instead of a discussion.

Once the audience realized the upcoming show would focus on Darth Maul, there was an elated frenzy among the fans.

Set to premiere in 2026, the series will follow Maul as he trains an apprentice. Sam Witwer will return to voice Maul, a role he played in previous animated series.

Darth Maul is a character with lasting appeal. With his unique appearance, accented by a double-edged lightsaber that astonished viewers when it appeared in The Phantom Menace, Maul left a distinct imprint. Portrayed with athletic prowess by Ray Park, Maul, a Sith Lord, demonstrated he was not a mere symbol of menace but a lethal assassin, killing Jedi Qui-Gon who was portrayed by Liam Neeson. However, Maul seemingly met his end at the hand of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Despite this, Lucasfilm did not abandon Maul; instead, they brought him back as a cybernetic character in the animated series, The Clone Wars. With this series, along with the Star Wars Rebels series, Maul evolved as a character with an intricate backstory that included a criminal underworld, and gripping narratives.

The exciting news about Maul’s standalone series was shared during a panel that celebrated two decades of Lucasfilm Animation, a division that has contributed significantly in keeping the Star Wars sagas alive during the early 2000s and mid-2010s.

During the panel, Filoni spoke about his experiences collaborating closely with the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, who greatly valued animation and advocated for the use of techniques such as previsualization that are now widely adopted. They also screened a never-aired clip, in previsualization format, from the Clone Wars series, where Anakin Skywalker is seen pursuing Boba Fett in the skies and streets of Coruscant. The assembly was also treated to an episode from the forthcoming animated series, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld.