Maul has fairly probably probably the most attention-grabbing story out of any “Star Wars” aspect character. As soon as a one-off villain with a cool look and superb preventing expertise who nonetheless died after a single battle, he is since grow to be important to the franchise. It was “Star Wars” creator George Lucas himself who determined to carry Maul again to life after years of being against the concept, with the character returning within the “Clone Wars” cartoon collection. There, he turned one of many present’s most complicated and attention-grabbing villains earlier than his story continued within the animated collection “Star Wars Rebels” and the movie “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
Now, Maul has grow to be the primary “Star Wars” villain to get his very personal animated present with “Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord.” It is an incredible present that captures the uncooked anger of a betrayed Maul, even incorporating actor Sam Witwer’s personal screams into the sound design for Maul’s lightsaber swings. And although we in the end know the place this collection goes, it is a testomony to “Maul — Shadow Lord” that it manages to be filled with surprises involving its namesake.
Arguably the most important shock is available in Season 1, Episodes 7 and eight, throughout a confrontation between Maul and a pair of Inquisitors. Their ensuing lightsaber duel isn’t just visually beautiful, nevertheless it additionally reveals us one thing we have by no means seen earlier than: Maul in concern and ache. When interviewed previous to the present’s premiere, Witwer advised /Movie that he was considering seeing Maul’s preventing expertise “with the understanding that this man is definitely wounded.”
“He cannot generate the type of hanging energy that he used to,” Witwer defined. “So, he has to depend on finesse, he has to depend on the Power, he has to depend on loads of various things.”
Shadow Lord reveals us a really susceptible Maul
We have seen Maul endure bodily ache earlier than — specifically, when he bought chopped in half in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.” Right here, nonetheless, “Maul — Shadow Lord” focuses on the lingering toll that this damage has taken on him and the way it hinders his skills. Certainly, all through the present’s first season, Maul complains about his robotic legs, limps, and even has his henchmen repair his limbs. As supervising director Brad Rau defined to /Movie, the collection’ creatives approached this notion as a recurring theme within the story.
“What occurs if his leg is injured? He would not get surgical procedure, he will get mechanical restore. So, we needed to slowly present a few of these bizarre vulnerabilities head on within the present,” Rau famous. This involves a head throughout Maul’s aforementioned battle with some Inquisitors, which he loses, massive time. “His leg is extraordinarily badly wounded, and the concern on his face, we needed it to be real and actual, like this isn’t going the way in which he needed,” Rau added.
It is an unprecedented second of vulnerability for Maul. What’s extra, this franchise would not actually do susceptible villains usually (except it is whiny Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren), so attending to see this onetime Sith Lord be actually humiliated is kind of refreshing and engaging. There’s even a mixture of anger and concern in Sam Witwer’s efficiency, with Maul realizing he might very effectively die right here after having already misplaced all the things.
After all, we all know Maul’s story will finally proceed in “Solo.” Nonetheless, it is nice to see the “Star Wars” franchise play with our expectations and discover a method to ship stunning character moments, even in a prequel venture.
“Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord” is presently streaming on Disney+.
