Star Wars’upcoming seriesMaul: Shadow Lordis finally bringing back the Sith Lord who was replaced by Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy. In 2015’sThe Force Awakens, audiences were introduced to Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke’s dark side apprentice and the corrupted son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. However, Ben Solo wasn’t always going to be the leading villain of the sequel trilogy.
Star Wars Celebration is well underway in Japan, andScreenRanthas been in attendance to provide all the biggest news and reveals coming from the galaxy far, far away. This includes the announcement thatDarth Maul is finally getting his own animated series in 2026, entitledMaul: Shadow Lord.An exclusive trailer forMaulwas released at Lucasfilm’s 20th Anniversary panel as well, including the reveal that a major Legends character is finally coming to theStar Warscanon, who was nearly one of the sequels' primary villains: Darth Talon.
Darth Talon Was Originally Created By Star Wars Legends
A Major Villain Alongside Darth Krayt InStar Wars: Legacy
Debuting in Dark Horse’sStar Wars: Legacycomic series in the mid-2000s,Darth Talon was originally part of Darth Krayt’s One Sithin Legends' New Republic Era over a century after the original trilogy. Also known as the New Sith Order, these dark side Force wielders were a new breed of Sith who operated much differently to the Sith of the past, ignoring Darth Bane’s Rule of Two.To that end, Darth Talon was a Twi’lek who served as one of Darth Krayt’s Hands, sporting red skin and black Sith tattoos she’d won in ritual combat, mirroring Darth Maul himself.
InStar Wars: Legacy, Darth Talon was tasked by Krayt with the corruption of Cade Skywalker, a descendant of the Skywalker lineage in Legends who’d given up his Jedi path to become a bounty hunter. While Talon was successful for a time and Cade became her dark apprentice, he eventually returned to the light. Regardless, Darth Talon remained a loyal agent to Darth Krayt up until his death in the Battle of Coruscant which forced the rest of the One Sith to go into hiding, 138 years after the Battle of Yavin.However, George Lucas had grander plans for Darth Talon.
George Lucas Wanted Maul & Darth Talon As The Villains In His Sequel Trilogy
Talon Was Eventually Replaced By Kylo Ren
Despite her Expanded Universe story taking place over a hundred years after the events of the original trilogy, George Lucas liked Darth Talon and her design so much that he decided to incorporate her into his early drafts for the sequel trilogy, envisioning a new origin for Talon as the apprentice to an aged Darth Maul.The duo were meant to serve as the primary villains of Lucas' sequels, where Talon would have essentially been the new Darth Vader (and Maul the new Palpatine). However, this was before George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012.
Interestingly enough,Darth Talon was indeed part ofThe Force Awakens’early developmenteven after J.J Abrams came onto the project, envisioned as a Jedi killer who would corrupt Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son. However, the decision was eventually made to have Ben Solo be the Jedi killer instead, already corrupted and wielding the dark side himself in service to Supreme Leader Snoke.Nevertheless, concept art of Talon wielding dual red lightsabers drawn by Iain McCaig can be found inThe Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Note: It was suggested inThe Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005that Rihanna was allegedly a potential casting option for Darth Talon (or was at least a model for McCaig’s artwork).
George Lucas' Plans Are Finally Becoming A Reality
A Canonical Talon Will Become Maul’s Apprentice InShadow Lord
In Star Wars Celebration’s exclusive trailer forMaul: Shadow Lord, Maul encounters a young Force-sensitive Twi’lek girl during the Imperial Era, and it can’t be a coincidence that she’s positioned to become his new apprentice asMaul controls the underworld via Crimson Dawn.Although it’s been nearly a decade since Kylo Ren replaced her inThe Force Awakens, it seems as though a canonical Darth Talon is finally becoming a reality (just in a different part of theStar Warstimeline). As such, it’s going to be fascinating to discover this new Talon’s story in the establishedStar Warscontinuity.
Maul: Shadow Lordis set to release sometime in 2026, streaming on Disney+.
