“Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” more than a surprise is a double confirmation: Dave Filoni knows what he is doing and the world of animation is without a doubt the best ecosystem to advance George Lucas’ franchise. This spin-off series dedicated to him, to Darth Maul, the former student of Darth Sidious, one of the most original, iconic, fascinating villains of the saga, here left literally freewheeling, arrives on Disney+ today.

“Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” – The plot

“Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” is set immediately after the Clone Wars, when with the infamous Order 66 Palpatine had destroyed the Jedi, the Republic and seized supreme power. We once again embrace Darth Maul, his former student and then enemy, master of Mandalore for a short time, finally defeated by his old master, who had slain his brother, Savage Opress. AND

ccolo on Janix, a planet that currently enjoys a certain autonomy compared to the Empire, and where he intends to take revenge against the local Bosses, who abandoned him in his time of need. On the planet, trying to keep the Mala at bay, there is a sort of Local Police. Among them, the best is Detective Brander Lawson, who together with his droid colleague Two-Boots, when Maul begins to sow corpses, tries as best he can to trace the culprit without the Empire showing up on the planet. But in the meantime, two surviving Jedi have also appeared on Janix: Eeko-Dio-Daki and his young student Devon Izara. They will all end up at the center of a complicated labyrinth of revenge, duty and hope.

It was 1999 when in “A New Hope” the world met Darth Maul. Compared to Darth Vader and Darth Sidious, he would have revealed himself to be a different villain, more ferocious, unstable, closely connected to the oriental wuxia genre, to Hong Kong action. Over the years his character has undergone a constant, fascinating evolution, remaining a villain indeed, but made up of an ambiguity that the Star Wars animated series (The Clone Wars, Rebels and Tales of the Empire) have made increasingly profound, complex and articulated.

Lights and shadows, the Dark Side but also brotherly love, revenge and violence, suffering and feelings of guilt for this crazy variable, determined to take power, but too impetuous to succeed completely. Dark, but armed with a sense of honor and a desire for freedom that made him almost a pirate or space ronin, in “Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” is obviously the most significant presence, which however Dave Filoni manages with great wit, giving space to other characters and creating a nice mix of genres.

A series with a typically hard boiled flavour

“Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” winks not only at action, but also at adventure, especially at auteur noir, with the character of Detective Lawson, voiced by none other than Wagner Moura, who appears clearly inspired by those who stars of the caliber of Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum made legends of the Hollywood of the past. Antihero, always forced to walk a thin line, is a really interesting character.

“Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” makes him a divorced father, with a complicated teenage son, an ex-wife who works for the Empire and a desire to do the right thing rather than the legal one. Then Darth Maul and Devon cross paths, renewing the Sith’s desire to find a weapon against the Empire, a pupil to whom he can transmit his boundless hatred against everything and everyone. Faithful in aesthetics to the most classic animated universe of Star Wars, Filoni’s series renews the narrative of the saga on the concept of rebellion, disobedience, the contrast between revenge and wisdom, giving us an exciting journey, with beautiful action scenes and duels that remain imprinted.

Other characters already seen by fans in the past will not fail to appear, but despite this, “Star Wars Maul – Shadow Lord” it has nothing that has already been seen or heard, it is a very mature story, often dark, which takes us to an unknown corner of the Galaxy but from which in the future it will be easy to expect surprising surprises. There are numerous homages to the franchise, but also to iconic titles of great cinema, with the dangerous Sith who never ceases to be something absolutely atypical, unpredictable, the bearer of an internal torment for which it is difficult not to feel pity or empathy.

It is not yet clear what will be on the big screen of the saga, after Kennedy’s exit, Dave Filoni is now the Deus ex Machina. But if he manages to bring that immense quality that he has always guaranteed on the small screen there too, then perhaps there is still hope for the faithful in the Force, for those who hope to be able to forget the horror of the sequel trilogy. Who knows, maybe one day we will finally be able to have an animated feature film for the big screen.

Rating: 8.5