The Sith Showdown Star Wars Fans Have Waited 26 Years For

26 years later, we now have an exciting opportunity for Star Wars to finally give us the Sith showdown we’ve always wanted. While the Jedi are the sworn enemies of the Sith, the Sith Lords themselves are also their own worst enemies. As such, an upcoming series may finally pit two of the franchise’s biggest villains against each other.

1999’s The Phantom Menace debuted Palpatine’s first apprentice, Darth Maul. Although he was defeated by the movie’s end, Maul survived to become one of Star Wars’ most popular recurring villains, even after his master rejected him. Now, 2026’s Maul: Shadow Lord can give us the long-awaited Sith showdown between Maul and the apprentice who ultimately replaced him.

Darth Maul Was Trained To Take Down Jedi

Credit: MovieStillDB

A master of the lightsaber combat form known as Juyo or Form VII, Darth Maul’s skill with a double-bladed lightsaber was unparalleled. Trained by Palpatine for the sole purpose of killing Jedi, Darth Maul was truly a dark force to be reckoned with.

Thanks to his lightsaber, Maul had a strong advantage both offensively and defensively, allowing him to control a duel with ease even while dueling multiple opponents at once, as we see during The Phantom Menace’s “Duel of the Fates” with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Form VII was also known as the Ferocity Form, allowing Maul to channel his intense rage and aggression against his foes. For all intents and purposes, Darth Maul was built to kill Jedi Knights. Keeping that in mind, this is something that could actually come in handy when and if we get a long-awaited Sith showdown in 2026’s Shadow Lord.

We’ve Always Wondered What Would Happen If Maul Fought Vader

Technically, we have seen a non-canonical version of a Darth Vader/Maul duel in 2001’s Star Wars Tales #9. In that story, Vader emerged the victor, catching Maul off-guard with an unorthodox lightsaber thrust through his own side to impale and kill Maul behind him, with Vader’s self-hatred outweighing Maul’s power in the dark side.

However, Maul: Shadow Lord is the first time we might finally see a canonical duel between the two Sith during the Dark Times.

During the Dark Times, we know Maul was running the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. Likewise, exclusive footage for Shadow Lord shown at Star Wars Celebration 2025 saw Maul not only dueling with the Imperial Inquisitor Marrok, but potentially even training his own apprentice. As such, it certainly does seem as though Maul could end up on Darth Vader’s radar.

The interesting thing is that if they did indeed duel during the Dark Times…it means Maul survived. After all, we know Maul ultimately meets his demise dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars Rebels. It’s actually a pretty impressive concept to think about, as few had the necessary skills to take on Darth Vader (and live to talk about it).

It’s possible that Vader’s Jedi training as Anakin Skywalker meant Maul had more of an idea of how to counter him, especially if the Shadow Lord takes place earlier during the Dark Times when Vader was still on the first steps of his dark side path.

Maul: Shadow Lord is set to release in 2026, streaming on Disney+.