By George & Josh Bate
The age of Maul begins April 6….
Disney and Lucasfilm have just released a brand new trailer for Maul – Shadow Lord, the highly anticipated animated series continuing the journey of the iconic Sith lord-turned-crime lord.
Check out the trailer below and keep reading for a full breakdown of the trailer….
The trailer begins with a voiceover from Brander Lawson, a new character voiced by Academy Award nominee and The Secret Agent star Wagner Moura. Lawson recently made his first appearance in the prequel comic Shadow of Maul, where he makes a claim for being the Commissioner Jim Gordon of the Star Wars universe.
Lawson says, “Our target is a syndicate leader. He is associated with several criminal organizations.” Indeed, Maul has been associated with a number of criminal syndicates as he attempted to unite various groups together in The Clone Wars. This alliance of criminal networks was known as the Shadow Collective and saw Maul rally the forces of Death Watch, Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, the Hutt Clan, and the Nightbrothers.
Lawson goes on to say that Maul is “proficient with a laser sword.” This is of course a reference to the term Anakin Skywalker used to describe a lightsaber in The Phantom Menace. Luke went on to use the term in The Last Jedi.
Maul elaborates on his overaching goal of the series in the trailer. “The Empire tried to kill me,” he says. “Their betrayal demands consequence. And that consequence requires a weapon.”
The weapon that Maul refers to is Devon Izara, a new character voiced by Gideon Adlon. We, as have many Star Wars fans, have speculated that Devon Izara will eventually become the canon version of Darth Talon. For those unfamiliar, George Lucas’ original plans for the Star Wars sequel trilogy would’ve had Maul unite with a red twi’lek named Talon, who just so happens to look a lot like Devon Izara.
The new trailer uses imagery, editing, and music that portrays Maul like a horror movie villain. He emerges from the shadows, disappears suddenly, and has the aura of a slasher, not unlike Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. This is consistent with executive producer Athena Yvette Portillo’s description of Maul as a “seemingly eternal villain,” comparing him to the aforementioned villains of the Halloween and the Friday the 13th franchises.
The Pyke Syndicate appears in the trailer. The Pykes are one of the most prominent criminal syndicates in a galaxy far, far away. They were the primary antagonists of The Book of Boba Fett and also appeared in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Outlaws, amongst other projects.
The trailer suggests that Devon Izara volunteers to team up with Maul as they share a common goal – to destroy the Empire.
Devon Izara is urged not to align herself with Maul by Master Eeko-Dio Daki. This is a new Jedi character voiced by Dennis Haysbert, who is known by many as the face of Allstate commercials.
The shot of Maul standing as a train passes by resembles a similar shot from Avengers: Infinity War when Steve Rogers is introduced.
The trailer introduces viewers to two new Zabrak characters, who seem to be members of Maul’s new organization. StarWars.com confirmed that their names are Icarus and Scorn and they are brothers.
Also appearing in the trailer is Rook Kast, who Sam Witwer confirmed is Maul’s first lieutenant in the series. Rook Kast first appeared in The Clone Wars, was a key player during the Siege of Mandalore, and is voiced once again by Vanessa Marshall.
The trailer offers new looks at The Eleventh Brother, who first appeared in Tales of the Jedi. Interestingly, StarWars.com refers to the Eleventh Brother as “The Crow.”
Teaming up with The Crow is Marrok, another Inquisitor who first appeared in Ahsoka as a dark side user resurrected by Nightsisters. It seems like Marrok and The Crow will be dispatched to put an end to Maul’s mission to destroy the Empire.
Maul and Marrok duel in the new trailer, showcasing a new approach to lightsaber duels for Star Wars animation. This was recently detailed in an article from Animation Magazine in which animation supervisor Keith Kellogg was interviewed. Kellogg revealed, “We really wanted the show to reflect the aggressive style of [Maul]. The other thing we did was really try and focus on crisp posing … especially for fight and action scenes. We really wanted to make those really strong clashing moments with lightsabers and things really … read in a very strong, graphic kind of way.”
Maul tells Devon in the trailer, “Let us have our revenge.” This parallels what he says to Palpatine in The Phantom Menace, “At last, we will have our revenge.”
A Low Altitude Assault Transport is shown in the trailer. Also known as a Republic Gunship, this type of ship first appeared in Attack of the Clones and was used to transport clone troopers into and away from battle.
The trailer concludes with Maul bifurcating an AT-ST with a double-bladed lightsaber. We didn’t need any more proof that Maul is a bad ass, but this trailer certainly confirmed what we already knew.