It was animation that gave Darth Maul a second chance, years after his seeming end in The Phantom Menace. Now, he’s starring in his own TV show—and the man behind Maul couldn’t be happier.

Maul's Evolution Beyond the Screen

For a lot of reasons, few characters have been as profoundly saved by a medium as Darth Maul. Animation didn’t just bring the character back as a familiar face; it transformed Maul into a fully realized character. This rebirth added layers of nuance and interest to a figure who initially existed primarily as a visually striking villain in 1999.

Fourteen years after his animated return, Maul has lived, thrived, stumbled, and seemingly fallen for good one last time. He’s returned to the big screen and driven the dramatic, emotional climaxes of two animated series. Now, next week, he’s ready to take center stage in his own series.

A Time of Change for a Sith Lord

“If there were ever a time to visit this character’s life, it is exactly when the Empire comes to power,” Sam Witwer recently reflected with io9. “Maul is a classically trained Force user who came from a time of knights, honor, and magic. But now the knights are dead, and the magic and color are being sucked out of the galaxy by the evil Galactic Empire. And whose empire is that? The Emperor’s.”

The series finds Maul fresh from the wounds he endured on Mandalore during battles with both his master and Ahsoka Tano, and still leading a criminal syndicate. However, Witwer views the show as an opportunity to explore Maul’s personal stakes, rooted in the betrayal of his initial death.

Questioning the Emperor's Rule

“Who is the Emperor to Maul? That’s the man who raised him,” Witwer continued. “So, Maul is looking around going, ‘Okay, I knew that we were trying to build an empire. I didn’t think it was going to be like this. This is grotesque. This is ugly. The only thing that exists here are naked grabs for power, and wealth, and influence.’

“There’s a black hole of energy everywhere, and it’s all the Emperor’s hand. So Maul is trying to figure out who he is, and what Maul is going to do about this is be his own man for once.”

Breaking Free from Manipulation

The Maul seen in previous animated iterations was often driven by external forces, such as the Nightsisters of Dathomir and his brother Savage Opress. This new series marks a shift.

“He’s been out there, yes, he had his brother, Savage, but he was doing what the Emperor had trained him to do back then,” Witwer added. “Now he’s not. Now he’s coming up with his own ideas.”

A Complex Relationship with a Jedi Survivor

While the series features members of his Shadow Collective, Maul’s primary conflict isn’t with the Empire or his former master, but with a young Jedi survivor, Devon Izara. A padawan fleeing Order 66, Devon quickly becomes one of Maul’s key interests.

“As he is reassessing everything in his life, he encounters a character that reminds him of himself. He feels a need to perhaps connect with her, but he doesn’t really understand what that is. He wasn’t trained to understand what that is. Devon is a character who has social needs like you and me but has none of the social training, not even a concept of what it is to be kind to someone.”

However, audiences shouldn’t expect a typical master-apprentice dynamic. “Yeah, you can say ‘pawn,’” Witwer laughed. “Again, I think that Maul was confused as to what she could or could not be. Certainly though, he understands that in order to combat the Empire, he does need people with extraordinary talent and ability. And for that reason, boy, he could sure use a Jedi or two out there—and note that I used the word ‘use.’”

“Which is a really interesting place for him to be, because he was taught by the Emperor to hate them with no compromises, and now he’s questioning everything the Emperor ever told him. Where he lands morally on the spectrum is still a very dangerous place because everything he knew he learned from the Emperor. He does not live in a world where you can have friendships or trust; he does not live in a world where you can stop and reflect and think—there’s no time for that; you’ll be killed. He’s constantly in a state of fight or flight; he’s constantly in a high-cortisol-intense chase through the galaxy. But he’s also very, very smart, very clever, and has a lot of talent.”

Exploring Moral Ambiguity

Witwer finds new ground to explore in a character he’s portrayed for nearly two decades. “In a lot of stories, you’re not the point-of-view character, so you can’t really indulge in a lot of those things—you can hint at them for sure, but you can’t really take the time to really explore,” Witwer mused. “This series gives us the luxury of doing just that with this character, which is a tricky thing to do in a, I firmly believe, is a very moral mythology.”

“But a conflicted character, surrounded by a variety of characters across the entire moral spectrum, including some characters who are very, very good—boy, that is an interesting show, if you can pull that off.” Witwer concluded, “Hopefully people feel like we’ve pulled that off. It’s been a real challenge.”