‘Shadow Lord’ Can Finally Pay Off Maul’s 2018 Live-Action ‘Star Wars’ Cameo

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A new Star Wars show is coming to Disney+ in 2026, and it has the potential to tie up many loose ends from across the franchise. Fans are especially hoping it will finally resolve a long-standing cliffhanger that’s been left unanswered for nearly ten years. While there’s no promise it will happen, this project seems like the most likely opportunity to get some closure. If the show avoids addressing it, many fans may feel the storyline will be ignored forever.

The world of Star Wars has grown so much recently, with characters and stories constantly appearing across both movies and TV shows. While some shows, like Andor and Skeleton Crew, tell fairly independent stories, most Star Wars projects heavily reference other related storylines. The Clone Wars is a good example, fitting neatly between the films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Disney+ is planning another series similar to The Clone Wars, using the same animation style. However, what Star Wars really needs right now is a conclusion to a particular live-action story.

‘Maul: Shadow Lord‘ Is the Perfect Show to Address the Cliffhanger Ending in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’


Lucasfilm

Following the divisive release of The Last Jedi in 2017, which upset many Star Wars fans, came Solo in 2018. The negative reaction to The Last Jedi led to a fan boycott of Solo, the film featuring Alden Ehrenreich as the younger Han Solo. Despite being a decent movie, Solo performed poorly in theaters because many fans refused to see it. It only just earned back its production costs, and didn’t even cover marketing expenses, making it the first major Star Wars film to lose money.

Honestly, even when they surprised us with Darth Maul at the end of Solo, it didn’t really get people excited enough to rush back to the theaters. It was pretty obvious they were trying to set up another story with him, but they’ve never followed through on that idea since Solo ended. Things got even tougher after The Last Jedi came out – it really damaged the franchise’s reputation. That’s why The Rise of Skywalker ended up being the last Star Wars movie we’ve seen so far. I’m so relieved that The Mandalorian & Grogu is finally coming in May 2026 to kickstart things again! It seems Disney realized focusing on big theatrical releases wasn’t the way to go anymore, and they’ve shifted to making Star Wars TV shows the main focus, which I think is a great move.

Maul is physically played by Ray Park in Solo, but voiced by Sam Witwer.

After nearly ten years, Maul: Shadow Lord finally delivers on the story begun in Solo, offering the most complete look yet at Maul’s life. While Star Wars: Rebels showed us Maul after the events of Solo, it didn’t explain how he went from leading the criminal organization Crimson Dawn to becoming a solitary figure driven by revenge—it only showed him relentlessly pursuing Obi-Wan Kenobi. Solo establishes Maul as the builder and leader of Crimson Dawn, so Shadow Lord will likely depict his rise to power in the criminal underworld, eventually connecting to the point in his life we saw in Solo.

‘Shadow Lord’ Is a Much Better Way of Paying off Maul’s ‘Solo Cameo’


Disney+

Although the ending of the 2018 film Solo clearly set up another movie – likely bringing Darth Maul back for a bigger role – the film’s disappointing box office results have a surprising benefit. If a sequel had been made, Maul would almost certainly have been portrayed as a typical Star Wars villain. While he’d have received more character development than in The Phantom Menace, Maul is actually more interesting when he’s presented as a character with complex, morally ambiguous motivations.

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After losing to Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor), Maul was brought back in the animated series The Clone Wars. This allowed his character to become much more developed and emotionally nuanced than what audiences saw in the original movie. His story continued in Rebels, solidifying him as a character who truly thrived in animation after a short appearance in live-action. While many Star Wars fans would like to see Maul appear in a live-action film, animation is actually a better fit for his character.

The new show won’t portray Shadow Lord as a simple villain, despite his past. The writers will have more creative freedom to develop Maul’s story, building on the popular version of the character fans have seen on television for over ten years. While he’ll still do questionable things – even compared to other characters in the Star Wars universe – it will be difficult to view him as a straightforward “bad guy” since he’s now the main character.

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2026-01-16 20:06