The brand new Star Wars animated series Maul – Shadow Lord is now streaming on Disney+, and has already been receiving rave reviews. The aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes currently has it as 100% fresh, with all 30 reviews that have been posted thus far praising the story and animation. Telling another chapter in the life of the iconic Sith, the Maul spin-off series has found a way to extend the character’s presence in a galaxy far, far away, long after his well-earned death in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. Maul is also joined by a new and exciting supporting cast, with one such inclusion being Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson.
Bradner Lawson had first been introduced in a Star Wars comic (that was also centered around Maul), and is a police detective on the planet Janix. Now making his debut on television, Lawson is an even more engaging character because he’s played by Wagner Moura, an actor who recently made waves for his Oscar-nominated lead performance in the 2025 Brazilian film The Secret Agent. In an interview with MovieWeb, Maul – Shadow Lord executive producer Matt Michnovetz talked about the process of casting Moura. As it turns out, it was how Moura discussed the character with them that compelled the team to cast him:
“Well, one of our executives, Josh Rhymes, who’s just brilliant with his casting decisions, had thrown Wagner’s name out at us, and we were huge, already, huge fans, and the idea of, like, meeting with him to discuss the character, then we had his meeting with him. And, you know, we didn’t really talk about Star Wars. We basically talked about the character and the inspirations for it, and the fact that he’s a father, and he’s really, like, a better detective than he is a dad to his son.”
Moura’s fundamental understanding of the character and his dynamics with those around him would also play a key role in the inspirations and influences for the character. Specifically, the team behind the series would use the thematic idea of struggling as a father and a detective to drive Moura’s character, specifically calling back to some classic films as inspiration for Lawson in the Maul series:
“He’s got this great son, and then all the touchstones and classic movie roles that we had used, from Heat to The Untouchables, to even Die Hard, to create this character and craft it. And so we’re grateful. I mean, he’s an amazing, talented actor.”
It’s exciting to see an actor of Moura’s caliber join a Star Wars project, and is, funnily enough, the second actor who was a part of the Netflix series Narcos to join the show. The first is Diego Luna as Andor, who first appeared in Rogue One and then starred in his own spin-off series. Given that Moura’s character is also modeled after him, there is always the chance that Brander Lawson makes the jump to live-action too, whether that be in a series of his own or guest-starring in another project.
- Release Date
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April 6, 2026
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Brad Rau
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
