Entertainment
Dave Filoni Wanted Star Wars’ New Series to Be a “Pulpy Noir” [Exclusive]
Maul — Shadow Lord, the newest Star Wars animated series, is headed to Disney+ this month. And even though he’s now got his hands full running Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni played a key role in the show’s creation. Collider’s Maggie Lovitt recently spoke to series producer Athena Yvette Portillo, writer Matt Michnovetz, and supervising director Brad Rau about the new show, which premieres + on April 6.
The three discussed the structure of the series, which Rau called “the most serialized show we’ve ever made, which brings its own set of challenges but is really rewarding and super fun.” Portillo stated the show, which they broke down into a three-act structure over the course of the season, had a structure that was “always based on the narrative.” Michnovetz says that serialized structure was both something they were consciously working towards and something the narrative ultimately demanded, per Filoni:
“When Dave Filoni had pitched it to us in the beginning, and the story he had, he had made it clear it should be sort of like this pulpy noir, and we developed it from there.”
You can see for yourself when Maul: Shadow Lord launches with a double-episode premiere on April 6.
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What Is ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ About?
Set a year after Revenge of the Sith, the new series sees Maul (Sam Witwer), once a Sith apprentice and now an aspiring crime lord with a cybernetic lower half, seeking an apprentice of his own on the planet Janix. That might just be Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon), a fugitive Twi’lek Jedi. However, they’ll both have to deal with the law, in the form of Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and droid partner Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade). The series also features the voices of Dennis Haysbert, Chris Diamantopoulos, Charlie Bushnell, Vanessa Marshall, David W. Collins, A. J. LoCascio, and Steve Blum.
Maul — Shadow Lord will premiere two episodes a week for five weeks, with the season finale falling on May 4, the unofficial date of “Star Wars Day.” Star Wars fans will barely have time to catch their breath until the first Star Wars movie in almost seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, rockets into theaters.
Maul — Shadow Lord will premiere on Disney+ on April 6. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
- Release Date
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April 6, 2026
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Brad Rau
- Franchise(s)
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Star Wars
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