Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord will be making a return after receiving a renewal announcement from Disney+ even prior to the conclusion of its first season. The animated project produced by Dave Filoni first aired on April 6, 2026, and features weekly episodes released until its finale on May 4. The early reviews of the show have proven rather positive, with a 98 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 75 points on Metacritic.
Sam Witwer says Season 2 is already well into the development cycle
According to Sam Witwer, who voices Maul and serves as the show’s consulting producer, Season 2 has already been in the works for quite some time. “It’s the usual development cycle… I know when it’s coming out, but it’s not a situation where the audiences will have to wait too, too long,” says the actor. He also revealed that “we’ve been working on it for a while.” Even though he did not give any further details regarding the premiere date, one can expect an accelerated development cycle in contrast to other animated projects.
As mentioned above, the first season occurs after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. There, Maul tries to re-establish himself by building a criminal enterprise under the rule of the Galactic Empire. All this happens on the planet Janix, where Maul goes about secretly and tries to exact his revenge on both the Empire and Palpatine. One of the key plot threads involves Maul trying to train the Force-sensitive child Devon Izara.
The actor also shared his thoughts about the audience response: “My prediction for Shadow Lord was, ‘Yeah, I think we have the goods…’ I did not necessarily see all of the passion and how hardcore everyone is locked into this show.” This response makes sense due to the project’s emphasis on the perspective of a specific character, presenting Maul as a highly emotional person incapable of dealing with his feelings properly.
Gideon Adlon, Wagner Moura, and Richard Ayoade make up the show’s cast. On their side, Filoni insisted on high production values, which involved improving multiple aspects of the process, including the animation and storytelling methods.
Since Season 2 is already underway, one can expect the project to remain a part of the ever-growing roster of Star Wars-related content on Disney+.
