Sam Witwer reveals exciting details about Darth Maul: Shadow Lord at Star Wars Celebration 2025

At the 2025 Star Wars Celebration event in Japan, Lucasfilm Animation announced a new animated series titled “Maul: Shadow Lord.” They provided a sneak peek of the upcoming show, which is set to release on Disney+ in 2026. Sam Witwer, the 47-year-old Emmy-nominated actor who previously voiced Darth Maul for “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” is also involved in the project.

For those unfamiliar, Darth Maul is a deadly Sith Lord and a formidable warrior who possesses both brains and strength. Continue reading to learn what Witwer revealed about Darth Maul’s role in the upcoming Star Wars project.

Sam Witwer on the upcoming Disney+ animated show, Maul: Shadow Lord, and his character, Darth Maul

Sam Witwer and Athena Portillo from Lucasfilm Animation discussed the upcoming show during the Star Wars Celebration event. Witwer began by sharing how he was cast for the project and had to keep it a secret for a year. He recalled frequently brainstorming ideas for Maul while working on various Star Wars projects. Unfortunately, his suggestions were rejected because those projects did not focus on Darth Maul. But not anymore—as Witwer proudly exclaimed and rightfully pointed out, Maul—Shadow Lord.

"This is Maul's show."

Athena revealed,

"Sam Witwer's involvement in the show has been pristine. So I'm excited about him being able to review the scripts and provide input and all of that as well."

Witwer shared a tidbit about the timeline of events in “Maul: Shadow Lord”; he mentioned that they occur about a year after the Clone Wars. He jokingly said,

"You know, he's dusting himself off a little bit. Ashoka kicked him to the curb. That wasn't nice. We get to really explore that."

Witwer spilled some details about his character, Darth Maul, in a podcast titled The Sackhoff Show. He told,

"It truly is a show about bad guys versus worse guys. And our bad guys are still bad guys. Like this isn't be show where you find out Maul is just a real teddy bear man- he's just misunderstood. You have to understand we're are not doing that."

Thus, Witwer clarified that the show will not whitewash Maul’s character; instead, it will place him in situations where he may have to confront enemies far more malevolent than he is.

Witwer continued,

"From Sith's perspective, this guy has flaws, and these flaws are things that we are talking about- the humanity that seeps in at various points. Some of this humanity he did not have, maybe early in the Clone Wars, but because of things that happened to him, he's rethought a lot of things."

Witwer revealed that Maul will now face the consequences of his actions and confront a galaxy that no longer mirrors the one he was shaped by—one with no Jedi to hunt and no war to wage. He also seems to question the motives of the Empire that Sidious has built. Witwer told,

"Maul was raised and trained his whole life to destroy the Jedi order. Now the Empire is here which Maul would have known that was his master's intent. But now that he's seeing it-he's like is that what he had in his mind? Maul comes from a time of swords and sorcery and magic and knights and now all of thatcolors being sucked out of the universe by this mechanized empire."

Are you excited about Maul: Shadow Lord? Let us know in the comments below!

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Also read: After reading Star Wars: The Fallen Star, I can’t stop thinking about the cost of Jedi detachment.

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