As if it wasn’t clear enough, Star Wars‘ latest TV show, with 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, solidifies the best future for the franchise. It’s no secret that the George Lucas-created universe has had its ups and downs during its time under Disney thus far. Under Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm, Star Wars was able to return to the big screen with the sequel trilogy, introducing a brand new generation of good and bad guys. Aside from that, it also expanded its storytelling with more small screen projects. Unfortunately, not all of them have been received positively — some have been more divisive.
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Understandably, this has forced Lucasfilm to be more careful with the kind of Star Wars project that they will greenlight. After wrapping the sequel trilogy with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the franchise took a seven-year break from the big screen, only coming back this year via Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu. Instead, Lucasfilm focused on building its Disney+ portfolio, with its latest release, Maul — Shadow Lord being its latest hit with an impressive 98% critics and 89% viewers score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Why Grounded & Morally Gray Characters Are The Key To Revamping Star Wars
Of course, name-recognition factors in people’s investment in the animated series, but as seen time and again, it isn’t enough to get Star Wars fans to care. This means that Dave Filoni and his team are doing something good to have those aforementioned scores. Beyond that, it also reinforces that the era of Jedi and Sith being at the center of Star Wars storytelling is over. Maul — Shadow Lord continues the trend of grounded and morally gray characters fronting the best Star Wars arcs in recent years, following the likes of Andor and The Mandalorian, since Grogu is technically not a Jedi.
The deep lore of Star Wars is rooted in the dichotomy between Sith and Jedi. Characters like Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and even Emperor Palpatine have been the bedrock of the franchise for decades. That said, as the universe desperately needs to expand in ways that it hasn’t done before, Lucasfilm can turn to more grounded characters who aren’t fully involved in that contrasting dynamic. Maul may have once been a Sith, but in Shadow Lord, he’s an outsider trying to build his own thing in the criminal underworld.
For what it’s worth, there has always been a fascination for this kind of Star Wars characters, with Han Solo being the original poster child for this role. He was neither a Jedi nor a Sith, and at first, he only cared about himself, but in the long run, his true morals showed, eventually becoming an important part of the Rebellion’s fight against the Empire. Seeing this kind of journey arguably has a more satisfying payoff, because there’s a clear change in their arc. In addition to that, focusing on smaller characters decreases the chances of Star Wars to create sweeping developments that could impact the canon in a divisive way.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord streams on Disney+.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
