With its initial debut on April 6th, 2026, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord,  the latest animated show from Lucasfilms Animation has been a new and thrilling experience for fans. May the force be with any latecomers binge-watching the completed series this May 4th, as the finale went live today exclusively on Disney+. 

Animation Scoop had the chance to speak with executive producers Athena Yvette Portillo and Matt Michnovetz alongside supervising director Brad Rau for an exclusive interview about the titular villain’s development and the creative process behind the series. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Haylie Baker: To start us off, how would you describe the tone of Star Wars: Maul? 

Matt Michnovetz: I would say it’s a pulpy noir, fast-paced, non-stop roller coaster ride.

Haylie Baker: Yeah, I can totally see that vibe. With this animated series, I’m sure there were many opportunities to explore aspects of Maul’s character that we maybe haven’t gotten to see much before. Going into this, what side of Maul’s character were you most interested in exploring?

Athena Yvette Portillo: There are elements of vulnerability that you’ll get to see in him and his character depth. We haven’t really gone there before. Previously into his mental psyche, just in terms of why he’s seeking out revenge so much, he lost a lot of things that meant to him, like his mom, his brother, things that are out of his control. And how does he deal with that?

Brad Rau: Yeah, and it’s so fun—that vulnerability compared to the brutal, skilled fighter that he is. That contrast is so interesting, and we wanted to explore that in this show in a big way.

MM: And also to place him into new situations with new threats that we hadn’t seen him face before in this new time period in his life, interacting with new characters and exploring new situations with all of them.

HB: Yeah, I think fans will definitely appreciate that. Is there anything exciting you could share about Devon and the role she plays in the story?

MM: Devon, played by Gideon Adlon—who’s absolutely fantastic, a joy to work with, is a character that is interesting because she’s unique. We can identify with her in the sense that she’s growing up in this time period that is incredibly challenging. She’s been practicing and preparing for a future that has been taken away from her. Watching her adapt, and be tempted by this situation, placed in vulnerable circumstances, and rising to the challenge to become a hero while having a  devil on one shoulder and her master on the other who’s guiding her as an angel, is going to be very interesting to watch. 

HB: Definitely. Yeah. Was there a theme or idea you kept coming back to while developing the show at all? 

AP: The theme visually is that of a more painterly, brushstroke look for the show, more of a cinematic sophistication, so to speak. That was a tall order and a challenge, but it was a lot of fun to execute. We worked closely with Joel Aaron, who’s our director of photography, in going back to old school ways of implementing images. And by that, I mean oil on canvas, matte paintings that we then shot and composited into the show. We also went back to practical model building, which was a lot of fun. Yeah, I would say more of a cinematic sophistication to the show. 

BR: One thing that we talked about a lot, is because it’s about a villain, it’s really bad guys fighting worse guys. It’s a quote we we say a lot and it’s true. It was sort of the guiding light for a lot of this.

MM: Narratively, we try to explore a lot of themes throughout the series but one thing that I think is important is watching characters faced with challenging times against difficult odds trying to be good people, and still maintain a strong moral compass.

HB: Yeah, I think that’s always something very intriguing to explore for sure. What do you feel makes this story different or unique from other Star Wars series we’ve seen before? 

BR: Having our main character being a villain is a little new for us, especially in animation. Keeping our main character, Maul, villainous all the way through—he’s not a good guy by any means, but how we can see his vulnerable side, or how he can contrast against these heroes that have to deal with the devil on their shoulder and how that works. We really landed on this pulpy noir style to showcase everything. And all of that is new for us in animation for Star Wars. So it feels, if we’re doing it right, it feels fresh and new all the way.

MM: It’s a little grittier. I think it is more grounded in many ways. And we handle a lot of the themes that I think we haven’t really explored in Star Wars. We have new characters that we’ve never done before in Star Wars. 

HB: Yeah, for sure. Did working on this series change how you personally view Maul as a character? 

AP: That’s a good question. We get to see a lot of his, I guess you could say mental psyche.

MM: Working with Sam is such a joy. He’s just fantastic, he’s so talented. Through the process, we’ve come to develop them all and really dig in deeper than any version that we’ve ever seen before. 

AP: Also, the animation is more elevated in terms of the body mechanics and the facials that we’ve done. We upgraded the rigs and we also worked closely with Sam to get the video reference necessary to capture those nuances and emotions that you see through the episodes. 

HB: Yeah, one of my thoughts viewing the first episode was how distinct the art style was. I thought it was incredible and perfect for this show, honestly. What kind of conversations were happening in the writer’s room while shaping this story? 

MM:  A lot of different conversations. Themes were a big part of it. A big part of it is basically writing ourselves into a corner and then challenging ourselves to find a way out. We really wanted to craft something that had a lot of twists and turns, and was very much a roller coaster. Also, we talked about lunch a lot. 

BR: We talk about lunch a lot. 

AP: We also talked about parameters, what can we truly design and build that will fit within the schedule and the budget allowances and the staffing skill. We talked a lot about crowd, cloth, sim, effects; Is it raining in this episode? If so, what does that mean? How many costume changes do we have to have? All those discussions are had at the table as well.