At Lucasfilm Animation's Star Wars Celebration 20th anniversary panel earlier today, Lucasfilm Animation president Athena Portillo and Lucasfilm CCO Dave Filoni — with the help of surprise guest Sam Witwer — announced the next major animated Star Wars series: Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. Witwer first portrayed Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, later reprising the powerful Dathomiri Sith Lord in Star Wars Rebels.
Set after the events of the final season of The Clone Wars, the upcoming Disney+ series will see Maul rising again to lead the underworld factions as he plots to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. The sizzle teaser shown exclusively at the Lucasfilm Animation panel shared a first look at what to expect. Empire reported that the sizzle teaser included Filoni's deep-dive into the character, and the footage revealed featured alien races, bounty hunters, and lightsabers, all masterfully rendered in the animation style of The Clone Wars.
The panel also teased that the upcoming series would feature the origins of the fan-favorite character from Star Wars Legends, Darth Talon, a Twi'lek Sith who will be Maul's apprentice in the show. Inquisitor Marrok, first introduced in Ahsoka, also appears, and he is seen locking sabers with Maul as he says with his sinister voice, "So he lives."
It was also revealed that the sibling composing duo Kiner Music will compose music for Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord. The pair have previously contributed work for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, and Ahsoka.
When is Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord coming to Disney+?
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in 2026. No exact release date has been announced at the event, but we will update this page once it's officially confirmed. Unless you count anthology shows such as Star Wars Visions, the Star Wars Tales series, or Young Jedi Adventures, the Darth Maul-centric title will be the first Star Wars animated series on Disney+ since the conclusion of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
