How Star Wars: Maul Puts The Sith Lord In A Position We've Never Seen Before [Exclusive]

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Maul has quite possibly the most interesting story out of any "Star Wars" side character. Once a one-off villain with a cool look and amazing fighting skills who nevertheless died after a single fight, he's since become essential to the franchise. It was "Star Wars" creator George Lucas himself who decided to bring Maul back to life after years of being opposed to the idea, with the character returning in the "Clone Wars" cartoon series. There, he became one of the show's most complex and interesting villains before his story continued in the animated series "Star Wars Rebels" and the film "Solo: A Star Wars Story."

Now, Maul has become the first "Star Wars" villain to get his very own animated show with "Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord." It's a great show that captures the raw anger of a betrayed Maul, even incorporating actor Sam Witwer's own screams into the sound design for Maul's lightsaber swings. And though we ultimately know where this series is going, it's a testament to "Maul — Shadow Lord" that it manages to be full of surprises involving its namesake.

Arguably the biggest surprise comes in Season 1, Episodes 7 and 8, during a confrontation between Maul and a pair of Inquisitors. Their ensuing lightsaber duel is not just visually stunning, but it also shows us something we've never seen before: Maul in fear and pain. When interviewed prior to the show's premiere, Witwer told /Film that he was interested in seeing Maul's fighting skills "with the understanding that this guy is actually wounded."

"He can't generate the kind of striking power that he used to," Witwer explained. "So, he has to rely on finesse, he has to rely on the Force, he has to rely on a lot of different things."

Shadow Lord shows us a truly vulnerable Maul

We've seen Maul suffer physical pain before — namely, when he got chopped in half in "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace." Here, however, "Maul — Shadow Lord" focuses on the lingering toll that this injury has taken on him and how it hinders his abilities. Indeed, throughout the show's first season, Maul complains about his robotic legs, limps, and even has his henchmen fix his limbs. As supervising director Brad Rau explained to /Film, the series' creatives approached this notion as a recurring theme in the story.

"What happens if his leg is injured? He doesn't get surgery, he gets mechanical repair. So, we wanted to slowly show some of those weird vulnerabilities head on in the show," Rau noted. This comes to a head during Maul's aforementioned battle with some Inquisitors, which he loses, big time. "His leg is extremely badly wounded, and the fear on his face, we wanted it to be genuine and real, like this is not going the way he wanted," Rau added.

It's an unprecedented moment of vulnerability for Maul. What's more, this franchise doesn't really do vulnerable villains in general (unless it's whiny Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren), so getting to see this onetime Sith Lord be truly humiliated is quite refreshing and fascinating. There's even a mix of anger and fear in Sam Witwer's performance, with Maul realizing he may very well die here after having already lost everything.

Of course, we know Maul's story will eventually continue in "Solo." Still, it's great to see the "Star Wars" franchise play with our expectations and find a way to deliver surprising character moments, even in a prequel project.

"Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord" is currently streaming on Disney+.