Learn behind-the-scenes stories, trivia, and fascinating facts from the team behind the new animated series.
You don’t have to know anything about Star Wars or even Maul to get into Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, the new animated series on Disney+. “All you really need to understand is that this is a story about a guy who has been wronged by a bunch of people and he wants payback,” says Head Writer Matthew Michnovetz.
But inside the writers room, the team crafting this pulpy noir wanted to know literally everything they could about Maul, down to every person who’s crossed him. That meant working out his kill list to include in the show bible.
Beyond Obi-Wan Kenobi, they’re mum on the details. However, Supervising Director Brad Rau, Michnovetz, and Lore Executive Matt Martin have shared interesting stories and other bits of trivia from the creation of the series.
Read on to learn about this week’s installment, including spoilers and fun facts from all of Season 1.
Episodes 101 and 102
1. Much of Maul - Shadow Lord is set on the world of Janix, a new location created for the series. A Mid Rim planet largely beneath the Empire's notice, the world features a large metropolis built into an ancient crater surrounded by a vast, overgrown jungle.
2. Rook Kast was first seen in the comic book series Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, which was based on unproduced scripts of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She made her on-screen debut in The Clone Wars Season 7 episode "Old Friends Not Forgotten."
3. Rounding out Maul's crew are a pair of Dathomirian Nightbrothers and a group of Mandalorian Supercommandos — two factions with deep ties to Maul's history. Maul himself was born a Nightbrother before beginning his Sith training. Many years later, Maul would utilize his close ties to the Death Watch splinter group of Mandalorians to gain control of Mandalore.
4. The acronym TDF can be seen on some officer uniforms, denoting members of the Tactical Defense Force. TDF is a special unit within the Janix Civil Defense, the organization that oversees all law enforcement and peacekeeping on the planet.
5. During development, Eeko-Dio Daki was lovingly referred to as "Dino Jedi" before being given his official name. He’s also a new species called a Mosyk.
6. When Daki begs a citizen for help, they reply with "e chu ta,” a rude Huttese phrase first uttered in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
7. Two-Boots is voiced by prolific British comedian and Travel Man Richard Ayoade. This is Ayoade's second droid character in the Star Wars galaxy; he previously voiced Q9-0, or “Zero,” in The Mandalorian.
8. We frequently see a "droid's eye view" perspective when Spybot is snooping, a POV rarely seen in Star Wars media.
9. The meal served to Looti Vario and Deemis at their meeting in the warehouse is inspired by the classic Italian dish chicken parmigiana served up at writer meetings held at Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood. “When you see Vario cutting into it and the way the cheese pulls, that was not easy to do, but it's great,” Head Writer Matthew Michnovetz says.
10. Actor Sam Witwer drew lines on his face to approximate Maul’s markings during a session providing live animation reference to the artists on the series at Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco. “We wanted to get as much nuance into the animation as possible,” says Supervising Director Brad Rau. “He's such a great on-screen actor in the booth. Some of the things he did were inspirational for sure. He has no hesitation. He's fearlessly, perfectly Maul all the time.”
11. Among the noir films referenced in this series, Michnovetz named Heat (1995) as a source of inspiration for the pulpy cat-and-mouse detective storyline.
12. The city on Janix is inspired in part by Batman’s Gotham, a sprawling metropolis with a dark underbelly. “What's under the crater? What's at the edge of the crater? What's beyond the crater?” Michnovetz asks. “Despite the Metropolis/Gotham/noir DNA of it, there's also this weird kind of subtle threat of the frontier beyond what is on the outside of this city.”
13. The fruit cart vendor is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, a longtime Star Wars cast member who voiced the clones in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Clone Force 99 in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Originally, his wares were going to be meilooruns, but the fruit also seen in Star Wars Rebels would be too large for Devon Izara to easily conceal.
14. Brander Lawson’s work keeps him busy, as evidenced by instant noodle containers and pizza-like boxes littering the family kitchen. “He’s a better detective than he is a dad,” Michnovetz says.
15. Maul returns carrying a red blade, with a hilt designed after his lightsaber lost during the Siege of Mandalore. According to filmmakers, the idea was that Rook Kast and other loyalists had returned for the relic, which has been slightly modified but is essentially the same weapon.
16. There’s a running gag that Captain Brander Lawson almost always has a cup of caf in his hand or nearby. If you look closely, you can count the discarded cups in his home and at his workstation. “We wanted there to be this realistic aspect to him and the police force, so you'll notice he's drinking caf all the time,” Rau says. “Every once in awhile you get a shot on his desk and if you look closely, there's six cups on his desk and then we'll cut to him in his speeder and he's drinking another caf in his speeder. He gets home and he's drinking more.”
“Also model that to the writers room,” Michnovetz jokes.
17. Befitting the series’ film noir-inspired tone, Rheena Sul was initially envisioned as Maul - Shadow Lord's answer to the classic "femme fatale" archetype.
18. Rylee is introduced wearing his botekin uniform and surrounded by various gear including a padded helmet and hooked instrument similar to a lacrosse stick. Rylee wears number 6 on the field.
19. Rheena Sul's office features a unique aquarium, something often seen behind powerful gangsters in crime films and serving as a visual metaphor for power, control, and character personality.
20. Bright neon signs are commonplace around Janix and feature advertisements for "The Best Blurrger in Town," "The Finest Refined Hyperfuel in the Galaxy," and more.
Episodes 103 and 104
1. Not long after he escaped from his exile on Lotho Minor, Maul was introduced to cassius tea by Death Watch leader Pre Viszla, who believed the tea was good for one's health. Years later, he shares the tea with Devon Izara.
2. Maul references losing his brother and his mother in this episode. His brother, Savage Opress, is killed by Palpatine in The Clone Wars Season 5 episode "The Lawless" and Mother Talzin in the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic, which was based on unproduced episodes of The Clone Wars.
3. The design of the Pyke species in Maul - Shadow Lord is a hybrid of their live-action look seen in The Book of Boba Fett and their original, more stylized design created for The Clone Wars.
4. The large stadium where Rylee plays botekin is a rare glimpse at team sports in Star Wars. Other team sports include: Huttball, a playable game in the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game; grav-ball, originally from the Servants of the Empire series of middle-grade novels; and limmie, which first appeared in the 1994 novel The Crystal Star.
5. Marg Krim has been the leader of the Pyke Syndicate since the death of Lom Pyke in The Clone Wars Season 6 episode "The Lost One." The Illustrious Imperator has an updated design in Maul - Shadow Lord.
6. Krim threatens to feed Vario's remains to his "nexu horde," a reference to the vicious cat-like creature made famous in the arena battle from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
7. The whisper-hiss sound that often accompanied Maul's appearance in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace can be heard briefly as Maul speaks to Devon.
8. The game of botekin has some lacrosse and jai alai influences and although we never see the game in action, creators figured out the rules of the game for reference.
Episodes 105 and 106
1. The Imperial gunships seen transporting stormtroopers are an updated Imperial iteration of the Low Altitude Assault Transport (LAAT) employed frequently by clone troopers during the Clone Wars.
2. The conscripted "TK troopers" are the standard shock-troops used by the Empire at this time. They're the first drafted Imperial soldiers following the gradual retirement of the Clone Army of the Republic and a precursor to the classic stormtrooper.
3. Lt. Blake can be seen looking at the Janix Civil Defense's evidence board for the Maul case, a classic trope in procedural police dramas given a digital, Star Wars spin here.
4. The first Inquisitor on the scene to track down Maul is the First Brother, also known as Marrok. Marrok was originally created by Dave Filoni for the first season of Ahsoka, in which he meets his end. He later showed up in the Star Wars: Tales of the Empire episode "Devoted." Maul - Shadow Lord spends more time with Marrok, giving us a deeper look at his wraithlike nature.
5. Lt. Blake was originally named Lt. Tavich. His name changed during the development of this episode.
6. The Lawson's apartment is filled with interesting props, many of which have appeared in previous animated series including an opened but uneaten chocolate bar from The Bad Batch, a large ball that Riley holds originally seen in Tales of the Jedi, and a series of eating utensils first seen on Pabu in The Bad Batch.
7. A sign in the back of the Casino parking garage directs visitors to the train station.
8. Earlier drafts of this episode had Marrok calling the Grand Inquisitor in the final scene but he was removed following the second draft script.
9. The stormtrooper design nods to Ralph McQuarrie’s original Star Wars concept art, continuing a style established in The Bad Batch. “Even though the style is a little more painterly, the stormtroopers are the McQuarrie-inspired stormtroopers we see in The Bad Batch and a lot of the Imperial equipment in the pristine Clone Wars-era equipment that's been stripped of color,” says Supervising Director Brad Rau.
10. When Devon Izara visits Rylee Lawson at home, Rylee’s bedroom is littered with pennants and other sports memorabilia. “You can almost smell the room,” Head Writer Matthew Michnovetz jokes.
11. The design of Maul’s legs was established in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but for Maul - Shadow Lord the mechanical innards were crafted to show what happens when Maul’s mechanical legs are damaged. “It was an opportunity to design the inner workings of the pistons and the sparks and all that kind of stuff,” says Rau.
Episodes 107 and 108
1. A new Inquisitor arrives on Janix, the Eleventh Brother, nicknamed internally as "The Crow." Dave Filoni first created the Eleventh Brother for Tales of the Jedi, where he meets his end at the hand of Ahsoka Tano in the episode "Resolve," setting Shadow Lord's "Call to Oblivion" before the events of that series.
2. The Eleventh Brother is seen arriving in a Phi-class shuttle, a typical craft used by the Inquisitorius first seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
3.Two-Boots has had his boots taken away and is now showing off mechanical feet and ankles far cleaner than the rest of his body, having been covered by the boots for so long. (We hardly recognize him!)
4. Icarus watching his brother Scorn cut down by the Eleventh Brother echoes Maul seeing his own brother, Savage's, death at the hands of Darth Sidious seen in The Clone Wars episode "The Lawless."
5. Two-Boots is seen using stun shots against the stormtroopers; even when being insubordinate, he doesn't want to take it too far. The stormtroopers don't have any such reservations.
6. Maul's lengthy vision of his past features never-before-seen moments such as a Savage pleading with his brother not to leave with Sidious and a glimpse at Maul's torturous early Sith training, as well as moments from other media including Obi-Wan's devastating attack from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Savage discovering Maul among the refuse of Lotho Minor, and Savage's death in The Clone Wars.
7. While Crimson Dawn wasn't part of the Shadow Collective when it first formed, Maul is seen to have a relationship with Crimson Dawn and Dryden Vos. Vos appears via hologram in The Clone Wars episode "The Phantom Apprentice," receiving orders from Maul alongside representatives of the Black Sun and the Pyke syndicates.
8. Creator Dave Filoni suggested the inclusion of Marrok and Eleventh Brother in the series, allowing the crew a perfect opportunity to nod to another beloved genre: horror films. They don’t move much, but when they do these Inquisitors have superhuman speed. And listen carefully when Eleventh Brother turns his head. “In the mix on the back end, David W. Collins is always adding weird stuff,” Supervising Director Brad Rau says. “When you hear a little turn of Crow's head, Collin's put in this creaking, weird sound. It's great. We call it ‘bone leather.’”
9. The three bullies hassling Devon Izara as she tries to secure a hot rod speeder are inspired by the Pharoh Gang from American Graffiti. In this case, the trio of aliens are all played by Dee Bradley Baker, ad-libbing an alien language on the spot and arguing with himself in the recording booth.
10. Maul’s visions of the past were created by Lucasfilm Animation’s Director of Lighting, Cinematography, and Visual Effects Joel Aron projecting new and existing sequences onto a smoke machine. This mix of animated and practical effects gives the scene a dreamlike quality.
11. In episode 7, Rook Kast delivers the line “Kebris, you slime!” an homage to Ernest Borgnine’s work in both Escape from New York (1981) and The Black Hole (1979).
Episodes 109 and 110
1. The statue seen in the empty town square is the Armistice Statue, a memorial from a long past conflict from Janix's history.
2. Dryden Vos first appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story played by Paul Bettany. At that point, he's the public face of Crimson Dawn (under Maul’s shadowy rule) but here there is mention of his "superior" Rintero.
3. Earlier drafts of the script featured a more graphic death for Rook but it was ultimately decided that having her pulled into the darkness of the fog before Vader ignites his lightsaber served as a better introduction for the Dark Lord.
4. While Maul and Darth Vader have never met in mainline storytelling, they did come to blows in the story "Resurrection" from the non-canon Star Wars Tales #9 comic published in 2002.
5. The climactic fight sequence takes place among a sprawling temple ruin, giving a unique look at Janix's history before it was consumed by the skyscrapers of the nearby city.
6. Dryden Vos arrives in a newly designed Crimson Dawn shuttle rather than his yacht, the First Light seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story. This smaller shuttle allows Dryden to get to the Janix jungle rendezvous point much easier than the larger, more conspicuous First Light.
7. The stormtroopers are seen using a large defensive cannon similar to the E-Web heavy repeating blaster used by snowtroopers in The Empire Strikes Back.
8. During the development of this episode, a lot of discussion was had around how much Maul knew about Vader. Ultimately it was decided that at this moment, Maul is almost entirely unaware of who he is, initially assuming he's just another Inquisitor.
9. Continuing the film inspiration in the series, Darth Vader’s arrival is heavily influenced by Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th and Michael Myers in Halloween.
10. The moment Vader emerges from the mist is also a homage to concept artist Ralph McQuarrie’s cover of the first Star Wars spinoff novel, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, by Alan Dean Foster.
11. To design Darth Vader for the series, artists returned to the muscular body type of bodybuilder David Prowse who first filled the suit on camera in Star Wars: A New Hope.
12. While Vader’s iconic breathing can be heard throughout the battle, the voice of James Earl Jones was not utilized for this appearance. Furthermore, the Dark Lord makes no sounds to match his fighting efforts, indicating that the rest of the characters are far outmatched by his skill.
13. For what was internally referred to among the design team as the “Sludge Lake Battle,” episodic director Steward Lee worked out the choreography of every lightsaber clash.
14. As Icarus, voice actor Steve Blum delivers a single word to set up the danger ahead: “Acid.”
15. Geographically, the waste dump would be located beneath the city, metaphorically reflecting “the sins of the city,” Head Writer Matthew Michnovetz says. In the writers room, creators also used the River Styx of Greek mythology as a reference point, with Spybot acting as Charon the ferryman.
16. Art Director Andre Kirk built totems that look like screaming faces into the ruins. Although visible as characters are running by, they are best viewed in concept art due to their size.
17. Showrunners note that the ruins are not intended to be Jedi or Sith, but rather an ancient civilization that once inhabited Janix.
18. Even though the series is primarily animated, several physical matte paintings were created by artist Kyra Kabler and Lighting Director Joel Aron crafted a physical ship model for Rheena Sul.
19. When Vanessa Marshall recorded Rook Kast’s unseen final battle, she told the assembled crew she was aiming for "he pulled my lungs out of my throat," Supervising Director Brad Rau recalls. To add to the effect, sound designers added the classic throat crush effect from Star Wars: A New Hope.
20. There’s an homage to the Cartagena slide in Romancing the Stone (1984) when Vader pulls apart the temple, sending the other characters sliding to potential doom.
The age of Maul has begun. All episodes of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord are now streaming only on Disney+.
