Lucasfilm Animation VP Goes Deep On Tales of the Underworld and Maul: Shadow Lord: 'An Upgrade of What We're Used To Doing'

If Star Wars Celebration Japan is immoderate indication, it looks similar we’re astir to beryllium spoiled by animated Star Wars projects successful the adjacent future. Athena Portillo, Vice President of Animation astatine Lucasfilm, sat down for an exclusive interrogation with IGN to sermon 2 of the astir breathtaking shows they person successful the pipeline close now: the just-announced Tales of the Underworld and Maul: Shadow Lord series.

Portillo was peculiarly excited during our chat astir moving with Sam Witwer, the longstanding dependable for Darth Maul successful the Star Wars animated projects, connected processing Maul: Shadow Lord. “Sam was progressive a batch with the quality extent and the lore, on with our caput writer and supervising director,” she explained to IGN during Star Wars Celebration Japan. “He's progressive with the quality extent of Maul, due to the fact that some him and [Lucasfilm CCO Dave] Filoni created the quality unneurotic successful animation, and you know, helium gets to work the scripts, helium gets to ticker the whip reels, helium gets to ticker the excavation color. He provides input.”

This surely isn’t the archetypal clip we’ve seen Maul — but it is the archetypal clip we’re getting to genuinely delve into the communicative of this seemingly eternal villain. “My gag for the Lucasfilm Animation squad is it's benignant of similar Michael Meyers oregon similar Jason Voorhees. Like you support sidesplitting them, but they support coming back. There is that menace that's there, right? I mean, it's Star Wars, right? So Darth Maul has passed distant truthful galore times, but helium does support coming back. …We are diving into Maul’s past and we get to leap into that successful the stories.”

Portillo made it a constituent to truly item each of the elements of accumulation that basal retired arsenic large enhancements to however Lucasfilm Animation was producing enactment previously, peculiarly the “the animation, the lighting, the effects, the matte paintings, the lighting concepts, the assets.”

“When Filoni kicked disconnected the Maul show, which was aft Covid, radical were getting backmost into the plaything of coming backmost to work, but helium said, ‘You each request to propulsion yourself retired of complacency, you each request to propulsion yourself retired of your comfortableness level. Being uncomfortable is simply a bully feeling, and it leads you to greater things. So, make thing that is an upgrade of what we're utilized to doing,’ some successful the animation benignant specified arsenic the assemblage mechanics, facial animation, we updated each of our assemblage rigs, and past each the lighting, everything,” she explained. “When Filoni watched 1 of our episodes past week, his remark was, ‘Wow, you guys, you are really creating cinema’. He was arrogant of what Lucasfilm Animation has achieved with this show.”

Portillo added, “All of it is an upgrade from what we've done, and adjacent from the Bad Batch, adjacent from Tales of the Underworld, it's an upgrade, and we conscionable completed Tales of the Underworld. We're releasing Maul successful 2026, but we're inactive moving connected it.”

Tales of the Underworld, which volition travel Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane arsenic they navigate their respective experiences arsenic villains, volition dwell of 3 episodes for each quality for a full of six. Ventress’ 3 shorts volition specifically halfway astir “the information that Mother Talzin gave her an accidental to travel back,” according to Portillo, “so Ventress meets the lad you spot successful the archetypal short, and it becomes 2 Jedi connected the run, and you'll spot similar a narration communicative created successful the 3 shorts.”

Interestingly enough, Ventress has been considered by immoderate fans to person died and been reborn, based connected the storyline presented successful the Dark Disciple novel. However, it was mostly up successful the aerial arsenic acold arsenic whether oregon not that was canon — but Portillo confirms that Tales of the Underworld is successful information picking up wherever that storyline near off. “Yeah. My favourite portion of that is the full Quinlan Vos and Ventress connection. When the fans saw that, and erstwhile helium said, ‘I volition ever emotion you,’ it blew everyone away,” she revealed. “I deliberation fans privation to spot that, you know, particularly since Jedi are not expected to get involved, but there's ever that emotion story. There was the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine story, and evidently Padme and Anakin, and present Ventress and Quinlan Vos. I emotion those types of stories.”

She besides noted that Ventress is navigating however to woody with her past successful a large way, peculiarly successful the mode she is spending her clip erstwhile we archetypal conscionable her successful the series. “Sometimes aft they've gone done a lot, they commencement to rethink their path, and which mode they privation to go. Some take a way of exile successful a way, wherever they don't privation to beryllium a portion of what their past has been. And past others crook to the acheronian side, arsenic we've seen,” Portillo said. “So, with her story, it's going to beryllium much of, you know, let's conscionable accidental sometimes radical travel into your beingness for a crushed to marque you a amended person, and the quality that she meets successful this archetypal abbreviated is simply a bully balance.”

Undoubtedly, some bid are going to beryllium absorbing to ticker — and we can’t hold to spot wherever they instrumentality the Star Wars beingness arsenic a whole. Tales of the Underworld arrives connected Disney+ connected May 4, 2025 but we’re inactive eagerly waiting connected a merchandise day for Maul: Shadow Lord.

Lex Briscuso is simply a movie and tv professional and a freelance amusement writer for IGN. You tin travel her connected Twitter astatine @nikonamerica.