Maul: Shadow Lord’s Game-Changing Casting Choice Unleashes the Show’s Most Compelling New Character

Maul is back on Disney+, and this time the show actually lets him be the lead problem. 'Maul: Shadow Lord ' pulls one of Star Wars' most complicated characters out of the shadows and gives him the spotlight. Yes, he started life as the cool-looking one-and-done villain in The Phantom Menace, but Clone Wars and Rebels turned him into something a lot messier: powerful, haunted, and tragically stubborn. This series digs into that. The twist is, the most interesting new thing about it might not be Maul at all.

The setup

The spine of the show is classic Maul: he wants the Shadow Collective back under his control, he wants to climb to the top of the underworld food chain, and then he wants to use that power to pay Darth Sidious back in kind. We have definitely seen parts of this song before, but the arrangement feels different here. A big reason is the supporting cast, including a Twi'lek Jedi Padawan named Devon Izara (voiced by Gideon Adlon), who Maul is eyeing as a potential apprentice. That alone is a dangerous wrinkle.

The wildcard: Brander Lawson

Early on, the standout is Brander Lawson, a cop on the planet Janix who was first introduced in the 'Shadow of Maul' prelude comics and now makes his TV debut. He is voiced by Wagner Moura, and the timing could not be better for the show: he was cast a while back, but these episodes are landing after Moura's acclaimed run and Oscar campaign for 'The Secret Agent,' which conveniently makes him the biggest name in the ensemble. Also, he is excellent in the role.

Lawson brings a gritty, noir-ish energy the franchise does not usually lean into. His cat-and-mouse with Maul is the hook of the first couple of episodes, and it gives the series a fresh texture instead of just retreading Maul's greatest hits.

Why Lawson pops

• He is a Janix detective who actually wants to solve his own messes and keeps the Empire at arm's length, even when protocol says to call in the ISB.
• There is an ex-wife in the picture who works for the Empire, which complicates everything before Maul even enters the room.
• He has a comedic back-and-forth with the goody Two-Boots, which lightens a pretty bleak case file.
• There is a murky past with an informant named Rheena-Sul that the show only hints at so far.
• He is walking a line between being the law and bending it, and that tension is where the character really breathes.
• Down the line, a team-up with Jedi Master Eeko-Dio-Daki is on the table, which could be a smart way to smash his street-level instincts together with Jedi calm.

Where this could go

If the early episodes are any sign, Lawson is the kind of character who forces Maul to show new sides of himself just to stay three steps ahead. Add in Devon Izara's potential slide toward becoming Maul's apprentice and the slow build of the Shadow Collective, and you have a series that finally gives Maul a different lane to race in. And having Moura, who already proved he can play a world-class criminal in 'Narcos ' as Pablo Escobar, anchor the other side of the board is a savvy bit of casting.

Release info

'Maul: Shadow Lord' drops its next two episodes on Monday, April 13 on Disney+.