Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lordis the latestStar Warsanimated TV show, and it’s the best chance for the franchise to redeem its biggest theatrical failure. Announced during the Lucasfilm Animationpanel at Star Wars Celebration 2025,the series will be set one year afterStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithand follow Maul rebuilding his criminal empire.Fans in attendance were lucky enough to see the show’s new animation style and an in-room-only sizzle.
While the show’s premise sounds incredibly exciting in its own right, it also presents an opportunity forStar Warsto build on one of its live-action projects. TheStar WarsTV showshave far more screen time than theStar Warsmoviesto tell their stories and, in many cases, more creative freedom with style and the direction of the narrative. It would give many fans what they’ve wanted for years while still making something new.
Solo Failed In The Box Office (But It Wasn’t Really The Movie’s Fault)
Too many factors hurt the movie’s chance of success
Not only isSolo: A Star Wars Storythe least profitableStar Warsmovie ever made, but it’s also the only one that lost Disney and Lucasfilm money. It had a budget of $330 million and a domestic box office gross of around $257 million, meaningSolodidn’t at least break even and lost $73 million.Because these numbers don’t take marketing or distribution into account,Soloprobably lost more money than that.
However, this failure isn’t really because of the film’s quality, as there were several other factors that hurt its success.Solocame out only six months after the highly divisiveStar Wars: The Last Jedi, which may have made many fans more skeptical about the nextStar Wars. It also gave audiences less time to get excited aboutStar Wars, as most of the other movies were released a year apart.
Most importantly,Solowas released shortly afterAvengers: Infinity War, one of the biggest blockbusters of all time and a competitor for viewers' time and money. It didn’t help that the movie had relatively poor marketing, with the first trailer dropping too close to the film’s release date. No matter how good or bad Solo ended up being, it had too much working against it to succeed at the box office.
Star Wars' New Darth Maul Show Can Finally Continue Solo’s Cliffhanger Ending
Maul’s reveal promised an onscreen return that didn’t happen
What madeSolo’s failure especially disappointing is that we never got to see the resolution to its Darth Maul cliffhanger.Maul was revealed as the true mastermind behind the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, promoting Qi’ra to his second in command and telling her to come to Dathomir. This left a significant gap in Maul’s story betweenSoloand his animated appearance inStar Wars Rebels.
The franchise did continue this storyline through other releases:Star Wars: Crimson Climbby E.K. Johnston, the MarvelStar Warscomics,Star Wars: The Clone Warsseason 7, etc. However, Maul’s new TV show could be the onscreen continuation of this part of his life that fans were promised withSolo’s cliffhanger. The series will be set beforeSolo, but perhaps there will be a time skip, or at least more information that helps fans imagine what came after.
Star Wars Has A History Of Using Animation To Fix Its Problems & Mistakes
Several animatedStar Warsshows have already helped improve the franchise, so it’s not hard to imagine Maul’s series doing the same.Star Wars: The Clone Warshelped many fans get more invested in the prequel era and reconsider their negative perception of the movies, with Hayden Christensen himself crediting the show for redeeming his character, Anakin Skywalker.Star Wars: The Bad Batchgave Clone Force 99 more screen time after many of theirClone Warsepisodes went unproduced.
Star Wars Rebelschronicled the formation of the Rebel Alliance and brought back severalClone Warscharacters before the series returned for a seventh season. While these shows can’t change the movies themselves, they can make theStar Warstimeline more engaging by expanding underdeveloped concepts and plotlines.Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lordhas so much potential to be great and redeemStar Wars' biggest financial bomb.
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lordwill debut on Disney+ in 2026.
Check out more of our Star Wars Celebration coverage:
Darth Maul
Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Maul was nothing more than a tool to winnow down the ranks of the Jedi ahead of Darth Sidious' true plans. Discarded after he was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, Darth Maul swore revenge against all those he blamed for his past struggles - Jedi and Sith alike. Maul tended to operate within the shadows, running various syndicates, and even established himself as a true rival for Palpatine on at least one occasion. He was eventually killed by Obi-Wan in a duel on Tatooine.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Cast
Solo: A Star Wars Story explores the early adventures of Han Solo, showcasing his beginnings and key encounters with significant characters in the Star Wars universe. Set in a backdrop of galactic turmoil, the film delves into the origins of his famed relationships and his rise as a rebellious smuggler.
