Shadow Lord Is Star Wars’ Next Animated Series

At Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Japan today during a panel celebrating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation history, the studio confirmed its next big animated chapter will be none other than a Darth Maul series.

Carrying on a legacy that began with the 3DCG Clone Wars series, before carrying on into the likes of Rebels, Resistance, Bad Batch, and animated anthologies like the Tales series, Maul: Shadow Lord will follow Maul (played by returning Clone Wars and Rebels star Sam Witwer), seemingly as he builds out the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. The trailer shown to gathered fans in the hall included various Criminal factions like the Pykes reeling from attacks on shipments, only for Maul to reveal himself as the architect. While the show’s look is a broad evolution of the art style seen in Clone Wars and later the Tales anthologies, there is also a new stylistic flourish in Shadow Lord‘s aesthetic that leans on rough lines and ragged edges, best glimpsed in Maul’s crimson saber blades, which look almost fiery in appearance.

One of the most interesting elements of the whole trailer was that Maul finds himself what appears to be a young new apprentice in the ways of the Force: a young Twi’lek girl he liberates from captivity and then begins teaching. Alongside her tutelage, we see shots of gang wars, intense chases through the hustle and bustle of a city planet (not unlike Coruscant, but would Maul really be playing in his old master’s back yard like that? We’ll have to wait and see), and even an encounter with the Inquisitorius in the form of Ahsoka‘s Marrok, who expresses his surprise that Maul has survived even as he draws sabers with him.

Maul: Shadow Lord will release in 2026.

Additional reporting by James Whitbrook.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.