It's San Diego Comic Con time, and even though Star Wars doesn't have a big presence there this year, that doesn't mean that the galaxy far, far away didn't bring some goodies for fans to see.
Lucasfilm Animation has an exhibit this year, displaying 20 years of Star Wars Animation from the earliest sketches of The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch to peeking ahead to what comes next for the franchise.
This included a first real look at Darth Maul in the upcoming animated series Maul: Shadow Lord, released via StarWars.com.
The series set to come out next year will showcase the ex-Sith Lord trying to navigate through the underworld during this new Galactic Empire he finds himself in. Sam Witwer shared details about the series, saying that it's "a show about bad guys versus worse guys. And our bad guys are still bad guys. This isn’t going to be a show where you go, oh, you find out Maul is just a real teddy bear, man. He’s just misunderstood… But the idea is, in fact, that even though he’s a bad guy, is he as bad as Sidious or Vader? And the answer is actually no. From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws. And these flaws are… the humanity that seeps in at various points. And some of this is humanity he did not have, maybe, early in the Clone Wars. But because of things that happened to him, he’s rethought a lot of things."
Another treat that fans at SDCC will get to see are never-before-seen sketches from Dave Filoni, some of which have been shared by StarWars.com. One is an early look at Clone Force 99 that would eventually become the Bad Batch that we all know and love.
Another favorite of mine is baby Ahsoka Tano, seen in Tales of the Jedi, along with her mother. What I adore about this picture (other than Ahsoka being a little cutey) is the Pittsburgh Penguins logo on the page, Dave's beloved hockey team.
Fun Fact: He designed jerseys for them once for their Star Wars nights, which is featured in a six-minute documentary that you can watch.
Seeing all of these images at San Diego Comic Con once again leaves me wondering when we might get a Dave Filoni artbook. He is one of the great artists of Lucasfilm.
Additionally, as the protégé of George Lucas himself, seeing those early insights into The Clone Wars, complete with notes from Lucas alongside Filoni's artwork, would be a treat in book form. It's one of the biggest wishes I hope we get one day from Lucasfilm Publishing. For now, we'll just have to settle for the SDCC booth
If you are attending SDCC 2025, make sure to swing by the Lucasfilm Animation booth to see the entire exhibit celebrating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation.