It’s fair to say that Star Wars has built much of its success through animation in recent years. Projects like The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, Visions, and the Tales of anthology series have helped make this side of the faraway galaxy as big as live action.
Star Wars animation has also given us characters who have become just as iconic as the likes of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, with the Togruta Force wielder Ahsoka Tano remaining the face of animated TV shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels.
She was first introduced in the 2008 film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. While she initially divided audiences, she became a defining presence throughout the TV series of the same name’s seven-season run, which concluded on Disney+ in 2020.
Although the character has since made the leap to live action, with Rosario Dawson bringing the character to life in The Mandalorian Season 2 and the 2023 series Ahsoka, which is returning for a second season, Ashley Eckstein has voiced the character across multiple projects, including the Ahsoka novel by E.K. Johnston, Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2017 — 2018), Disney Infinity 3.0, Tales of the Jedi (2022), and the LEGO Star Wars series Rebuild the Galaxy (2024) and its 2025 sequel, and, of course, The Clone Wars and Rebels.
Now, Lucasfilm’s next animated series could be preparing to follow a similar path with a brand-new character.
The new animated series Maul — Shadow Lord, recently dropped its first official trailer. Per StarWars.com, it’s “set after the events of The Clone Wars” and follows the former Sith as he works “to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.”
While Shadow Lord will introduce several new characters, the Twi-lek Jedi Devon Izara, who’s voiced by Gideon Adlon, is an instant standout in the new trailer. She’s described as being “on the run from the Empire” and “conflicted,” as she navigates life after Order 66.
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The similarities between Devon and Ahsoka are hard to ignore. For starters, both characters are Force users shaped by the fall of the Jedi and forced into isolation while redefining their identities. There’s also a physical resemblance, as both species feature prominent “lekku”.
And, like Ahsoka before her, Devon finds herself facing Maul, who sees her as a possible apprentice, perhaps echoing Ahsoka’s journey, which came closely tied to Maul during the Siege of Mandalore storyline in The Clone Wars Season 7, where the former Sith attempted to convince her to join him.
Watch her in the official trailer for Maul — Shadow Lord below:
Maul — Shadow Lord debuts April 6 with a two-episode premiere and features a voice cast led by Sam Witwer alongside Richard Ayoade, Vanessa Marshall, Chris Diamantopoulos, A.J. LoCascio, David W. Collins, Steve Blum, Wagner Moura, Dennis Haysbert, and Charlie Bushnell.
Do you think Devon Izara could become as popular as Ahsoka Tano? Are you excited about Shadow Lord? Let us know in the comments below!
