Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord has an impressive voice cast, including an actor who was previously in The Mandalorian. Maul has been a crucial part of Star Wars animation ever since The Clone Wars revealed his survival, with that and Star Wars Rebels turning him into one of the franchise’s most complicated and surprisingly tragic figures. But now, he’s firmly in the spotlight more than ever before thanks to Shadow Lord, the first two episodes of which find him looking to re-establish his power in the criminal underworld and take revenge on those who wronged him.
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That leads him into the path of several new Star Wars characters, including the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara, and the Janix police detective Brander Lawson. The latter is particularly interesting, refusing to call in the Empire for help with the Maul situation. Instead, he’s assisted by his partner, 2B0T, aka Two-Boots (who, yes, actually wears two boots). My ears immediately pricked up when I heard Two-Boots speak, because it was a very familiar voice: Richard Ayoade.
Richard Ayoade Voicing Two-Boots Is A Great Choice For Maul – Shadow Lord
Ayoade’s casting as Two-Boots is a great call. He’s perfect for droids, because his delivery and personality style skews heavily towards being so dry and deadpan. It’s not only instantly recognizable, but a perfect foil for Lawson in Shadow Lord. It’s a series that brings plenty of intensity, but he adds a nice touch of comic relief.
The actor isn’t a newcomer to Star Wars, having also voiced Q9-0, aka Zero, in The Mandalorian Season 1 and 2, which again was a pretty similar type of role for him (though we’ll get more of him here). As well as the trend of droids being used for comedy in Star Wars, this also marked one of the stars of hit U.K. sitcom The I.T. Crowd being cast in the franchise, with him having played Moss in the series.
This was shortly followed by the wonderful Matt Berry voicing 8D8 in The Book of Boba Fett, and now it continues with Ayoade back in a galaxy far, far away. There’s another link, too, as Peter Serafinowicz also had voice roles in The I.T. Crowd, and was the original Maul voice actor in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Who Else Is In Maul: Shadow Lord’s Cast
As well as Ayoade, the cast for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is pretty impressive, including a franchise legend and one other particularly notable newcomer. It includes:
Sam Witwer as Maul: Witwer reprises his role as Maul, having previously voiced the character in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Solo. He’s a rightly beloved part of the franchise, who also voiced Emperor Palpatine and The Son in animation, and had cameo roles in the likes of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, and Andor.
Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara: The Twi’lek Padawan has survived Order 66, but is now being targeted by Maul as a potential new apprentice. Adlon has had a voice role in Star Wars before, playing Pak Relda in Young Jedi Adventures, while other credits include The Society and Terminator Zero.
Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson: The police detective is voiced by one of the most impressive names in the cast, recent Oscar-nominee Moura. He received great acclaim and a Best Actor nomination for The Secret Agent, and is also known for playing Pablo Escobar in Narcos.
Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast: One of Maul’s Mandalorian allies from The Clone Wars, Rook Kast is again voiced by Marshall. Like Witwer, she’s a fan-favorite, having played Hera Syndulla in Star Wars Rebels and The Bad Batch.
Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio-Daki: Devon’s elderly Jedi Master who survived Order 66 with her, he’s voiced by Haysbert, who has had a career spanning almost 50 years, including President David Palmer in 24 and God in Lucifer.
Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario: The crime boss is voiced by Diamantopoulos, who, alongside his work on shows like Silicon Valley, has a long voice acting resume that includes several roles on Invincible and playing Mickey Mouse in the TV show that ran from 2013-19.
Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson: Detective Lawson’s son is voiced by an actor from another Disney+ series, with Bushnell playing Luke Castellan on Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
David W. Collins as Spybot: The spy droid for Maul is voiced by Collins, who has worked in the sound department and had various voice roles on most Star Wars TV shows.
A. J. LoCascio as Marrok: The Inquisitor who debuted in Ahsoka is back again, voiced by LoCascio, who has had voice roles in Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld and various LEGO Star Wars releases.
Steve Blum as Icarus: A member of Maul’s crimial enterprise and fellow Zabrak, Icarus is voiced by Blum, who played Zeb in Star Wars Rebels, a role he’s also reprised in live-action in The Mandalorian (and will do again in The Mandalorian and Grogu).
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord Episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+. New episodes release at 3:01 am ET on Mondays.
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