Star Wars finally takes the dive into film noir in the new series, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord and delivers a satisfying new side of everyone’s favorite villain. On a new-to-us planet of Janix, we find the ever familiar Zabrak villain, Darth Maul (now known as Maul), fighting more than his usual foes and enemies; and not just the crime lords he’s exacting revenge on, but rather the demons within his own psyche after an encounter with young Jedi named Devon Izara.

But is Maul still a villain? According to Maul – Shadowlord, it can get pretty complicated. Yes, he’s still a murderer, but as a “means to survive”, as he puts it to the young Devon. The young padawan, Devon Izara, is under the care of Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) who is pretty devout in his ways, choosing to starve than to disrupt the natural order. The young Devon is conflicted early on with the two sides of the coin and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Join Maul and live? Or stay true to the Jedi roots, which has been completely dismantled, leaving her and her master to hide for the rest of their lives.

On the other side of this compelling series is Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura), a good cop in this sector of Janix, who is completely opposed to the Empire, paired with his faithful partner of a droid, Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), who despite his joyful disposition, is all about following protocol, even if that means requesting assistance from the Empire, which the presence of Maul absolutely requires. Throwing even more gasoline on the process is the discovery that Lawson’s ex-wife works for the Empire.

Maul – Shadow Lord’s episodes (there will be ten in all) are filled to the brim with action, chases, and stunning lightsaber battles. But it’s the dynamics of the characters that really make this show a standout. When Cops, Jedi, an ex-Sith Lord, Smugglers, and Bounty Hunters all would rather stay away from the Empire and yet can’t help but get in each other’s way, you have a recipe for compelling Star Wars.

The first two episodes of Maul – Shadow Lord debut on Disney+ on April 6, 2026, with two more episodes dropping on April 13th. With only six episodes to go, you don’t want to wait. This is top tier Star Wars.