Review: Star Wars Black Series Maul from Maul: Shadow Lord
- Mephitsu
- 6 minutes ago
- 6 min read
“Use your rage and unleash your potential.”
Maul made his triumphant return to the Star Wars Universe in 2026 with a new animated series, Maul: Shadow Lord, continuing his story from The Clone Wars and bridging the gap until his brief cameo in Solo and his eventual final appearances in Star Wars: Rebels. A four-figure wave of Star Wars Black Series figures was unveiled for the first season, and these were shipped in July 2026. The wave features Maul himself along with Rook Kast, the Eleventh Brother Inquisitor, and Devon Izara.
The Shadow Lord collection for the Galaxy Collection was assigned another red tone, a brighter version than that used on Andor and Attack of the Clones, but still very similar. The focus colour is applied over the black box in terms of the numbering and character details as well as on the side artwork.
Maul is number 01 in the collection, kicking off the side montage with an image of the un-cloaked Maul stood side-on and brandishing his dual blade lightsaber. This connects onward to Rook Kast and the other Shadow Lord figures. The image is used again on the back of the box with a short piece of text that positions the premise of the show rather than the character, and this same text is used on all the Wave 1 figures.
Inside the packaging, Maul is set against a red-hued backdrop that includes an embedded image of the underworld of Janix.
Maul arrives wrapped in his hooded cape as seen in the first episode. In the box, this looks slightly flat and uninspiring, but in hand it is relatively well tailored with the hood sitting quite naturally.
The cape is split from the neck downward so can cover the torso of Maul fully or be opened to the side or both sides, revealing more of the sculpted body beneath. It is removable, coming off easily over the head.
Maul is presented in the same costume as we saw him at the end of The Clone Wars, with a black open tunic revealing his red and black tattooed chest below. This tunic is a rubber sleeve over the sculpted and fully painted torso. Each arm features a grey pauldron and brown sleeves that run to long-sleeved black gloves with a trio of sculpted straps, painted in silver.
The belt piece and its attached skirt is another rubbery plastic sleeve and also represent where Maul's organic body finishes, and the cybernetic legs begin. The belt is wrapped in three silver coiled straps with subtle blue and gold markings added to the silver.
From under the short tunic skirt, the legs are in the same brown as the sleeves with sculpted pockets, which then become the fully revealed robotic legs at the knees with a gunmetal silver finish and darker metallic inset panels to add contrast.
Maul’s headsculpt is very much based on the Ray Park Phantom Menace appearance, rather than the thin and gaunt animated Maul from the show. This, as is the case with all animated characters, converts the figure from animation to a live-action setting. The face is printed with red markings over the black base, with Maul’s eyes picked out with their yellow irises. The horns are sculpted as part of the head and are then painted in bone white.
vs the 2022 The Clone Wars Maul (right)
This is the same base Maul figure as was released in 2022 as part of The Clone Wars Galaxy Collection. Apart from the addition of the soft goods cape, everything else remains sculpturally the same, while the paint tones are the same with minor variances such as a brighter red on the new figure and a brighter tone on the metal legs and bands around the waist.
Maul comes with his lightsaber, the newer version where he has combined one half of his original dual saber with a second hilt to create the dual-wielded blade. These are the same as included in the 2022 release and cast in silver with painted detail such as black on the grip of the newer half and a red activation button on the original half. They connect by way of a plug and socket to create a single piece. The original hilt, or the fully combined hilt, is intended to be plugged into Maul’s belt for a holstering option. This is not ideal in terms of how it's engineered, with the saber quite awkward against the shape of Maul’s hips, and the plug being quite small and sitting too loose in the socket.
The saber hilts fit into either hand, with sufficient articulation for dual-hand and dual-blade wields. The blades themselves are translucent red and slot into place to display Maul with sabers ignited and ready for battle.
Articulation for Maul is 19 points in total, the standard for circa 2022 and inclusive of the thigh swivels, which have been phased out since. Maul also gets a rotation at the knee, which itself bends to just past 90 degrees. The ankle rockers have quite wide gaps in the ratchet, and that can make it tricky to get the feet positioned as flat to the floor, and I found Maul a little harder to position standing as you had to kind of ‘pause’ the ankle rocker partway between the two clicks of the internal ratchet.
The upper body uses butterfly shoulders, which helps in fighting positions but also allows Maul to almost reach a folded arm position as seen in the show. The ball joint waist, disguised behind the belt, provides plenty of forward and backward lean. And the head is dual-jointed, which allows a lot of Maul’s mannerisms to be replicated in the figure, such as how he looks down and glares out at his foes, or how he tilts his head and stretches his neck before battle.
It would be difficult for Hasbro to launch a new Galaxy Collection based on Maul: Shadow Lord without making Maul the launch figure in the number 01 slot. With no significant change in looks between The Clone Wars and Shadow Lord, I am not overly concerned with the re-use of the original 2022 figure, and I am happy with the addition of the soft goods cape, although treating us to a wired version would have super-charged this figure considerably when you see the visuals of Maul on screen with cape billowing out behind him.
The paintwork on the new 2026 version is crisp and brighter than the original, while the accessories do the job apart from that belt holster option. Articulation is fine, with a range of options available that can vary between a Maul monologue with his hand rubbing his chin, to a dual-bladed attack with his twin sabers. It will now be interesting to see if Season 2 begins his transition of outfit to that we see in Solo and then finally in Rebels.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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