What’s New On Hulu In May 2020? More Movies, TV Shows, And Original Content

Everyone is spending a lot more time at home right now, and because of this, everyone is looking for something new to watch. Luckily, Hulu has revealed its list for what’s coming and going from the streaming service for the month of May. Check out the full list below of Hulu’s new content for May.

Beginning on May 1, tons of movies are headed to the service. You can watch the classic sci-fi action movie Demolition Man arrives, and you should watch it as much as possible because it is amazing. Also arriving that day are Batman Begins, Goodfellas, The Conjuring, and more.

If you’re looking for some silly game shows to watch, there are a few coming in May that may be up your alley. On May 20, Fox debuts Ultimate Tag, which is exactly what you think it is: tag with people doing flips and stuff. One day later, ABC hosts Holey Moley Season 2, an outlandish and fun miniature golf game show featuring people falling into a giant swimming pool.

Sadly, there are plenty of movies leaving Hulu in the upcoming month, so you still have a chance to check out great movies like Good Will Hunting, Misery, and Zombieland before they leave on May 31.

Below, you’ll find everything coming and going to Hulu for the month of May. And speaking of things you should be watching, consider listening to GameSpot’s weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.

New to Hulu in May:

Available May 1

  • Bloom: Complete Season 2
  • A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
  • Aeon Flux (2005)
  • Assassination Tango (2003)
  • Batman Begins (2005)
  • Billy the Kid (2013)
  • Brick Mansions (2014)
  • Crooked Hearts (1991)
  • Demolition Man (1993)
  • Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
  • Friday the 13th – Part III (1982)
  • Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)
  • Gloria (2014)
  • GoodFellas (1990)
  • Harry Benson: Shoot First (2016)
  • House of D (2005)
  • Megamind (2010)
  • Men With Brooms (2002)
  • Molly (1999)
  • Monster House (2006)
  • Mutant Species (1995)
  • Pathology (2008)
  • Planet 51 (2009)
  • Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
  • Sands of Iwo Jima (1950)
  • Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
  • Some Kind of Hero (1982)
  • Soul Food (1997)
  • Sprung (1997)
  • Strategic Air Command (1955)
  • Tamara (2006)
  • Tank Girl (1995)
  • The Conjuring (2013)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • The Graduate (1967)
  • The Green Mile (1999)
  • The Patriot (2000)
  • The Whistle Blower (1987)
  • Treasure Hounds (2017)
  • Universal Soldier (1992)
  • Walking Tall (1973)

Available May 5

  • Vikings: Season 6A

Available May 8

  • Solar Opposites: Series Premiere (Hulu Original)
  • Into the Dark: Delivered: New Episode Premiere (Hulu Original)
  • Spaceship Earth (2020)

Available May 12

  • The Happy Days Of Garry Marshall: Special (ABC)

Available May 15

  • The Great: Series Premiere (Hulu Original)
  • Beat Bobby Flay: Complete Seasons 8 & 9 (Food Network)
  • Caribbean Life: Complete Season 15 (HGTV)
  • Chopped: Complete Seasons 37 – 39 ( Food Network)
  • Fast N’ Loud: Complete Season 15 (Discovery Channel)
  • Gold Rush: Complete Season 8 (Discovery Channel)
  • Murder in the Heartland: Complete Season 2 (ID)
  • Property Brothers: Complete Seasons 12 & 13 (HGTV)
  • Street Outlaws: Complete Seasons 8 & 9 (Discovery Channel)
  • The Great Food Truck Race: Complete Seasons 8 & 9 (Food Network)
  • The Little Couple: Complete Seasons 13 & 14 (TLC)
  • Worst Cooks in America: Complete Season 14 (Food Network)
  • Open Door: Complete Season 2 (Conde Nast)
  • On the Market: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • Reverse Engineering: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • Molly Tries: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • Andy Explores: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • Handcrafted : Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • From the Test Kitchen: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • It’s Alive with Brad: Complete Season 2 (Conde Nast)
  • Epic Conversations: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • Iconic Characters: Complete Season 2 (Conde Nast)
  • Drag Me: Complete Season 1 (Conde Nast)
  • 73 Questions: Complete Season 2 (Conde Nast)
  • Community en Español: Complete Series (NBC)
  • It’s a Disaster (2012)

Available May 19

  • Story Of The Soaps: Special (ABC)
  • Like Crazy (2011)
  • Trial by Fire (2019)

Available May 20

  • Ultimate Tag: Series Premiere (Fox)

Available May 22

  • Holey Moley: Season 2 Premiere (ABC)
  • To Tell The Truth: Season 5 Premiere (ABC)
  • Rocketman (2019)
  • Premature (2020)
  • Top End Wedding (2019)
  • Painter and the Thief (2020)

Available May 25

  • The Tracker (2019)

Available May 26

  • I Still Believe (2020)

Available May 28

  • Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 7 Premiere (ABC)

Available May 29

  • Ramy: Complete Season 2 Premiere (Hulu Original)
  • Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2020)

Here’s what is leaving Hulu in May:

Leaving May 31

  • 50/50 (2011)
  • Danny Roane: First Time Director (2007)
  • Deck the Halls (2011)
  • Eyes of an Angel (1994)
  • Free Willy (1993)
  • Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995)
  • Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)
  • Furry Vengeance (2010)
  • Gator (1976)
  • Good Morning, Killer (2011)
  • Good Will Hunting (1997)
  • Hide (2011)
  • Hornet’s Nest (2012)
  • Innocent (2011)
  • Kinsey (2004)
  • Leap Year (2010)
  • Major League II (1994)
  • Man on a Ledge (2012)
  • Megamind (2010)
  • Misery (1990)
  • Natural Born Killers (1994)
  • Night of the Living Dead (2006)
  • Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (2012)
  • Notes On a Scandal (2005)
  • Richard the Lionheart (2013)
  • Ricochet (2011)
  • Righteous Kill (2009)
  • Silent Tongue (1993)
  • Silent Witness (2011)
  • Spider-Man (2002)
  • Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
  • Swingers (1996)
  • Tenderness (2009)
  • The Book Of Eli (2010)
  • The Cooler (2003)
  • The Descent (2005)
  • The Descent: Part 2 (2010)
  • Up in the Air (2009)
  • Waiting to Exhale (1995)
  • Zombieland (2009)

Now Playing: Best Shows And Movies To Stream For April 2020 – Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video

Cyberpunk 2077 Special Edition Xbox One X Leaked

Microsoft recently started putting out teasers for something related to Cyberpunk 2077, possibly including specialized hardware, with a full reveal to come on Monday, April 20. The company appears to have inadvertently jumped the gun, however, putting the trailer up early on its official Xbox YouTube channel.

The trailer shows off the limited edition Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X bundle. It includes custom paneling and a cyberpunk stylized paintjob, glow-in-the-dark graffiti, an LED light, and laser etching. It’s said to be coming June 2020. The trailer is marked as unlisted, but it’s viewable as of the time of writing.

The trailer also shows off the special edition controller. That had been previously leaked, thanks to an Amazon listing that briefly went live for pre-orders. The controller was slated for release on May 4.

The Xbox teasers consisted of a short teaser video on Twitter, and a “glitch” on the official Xbox site. That teaser showed an image that appeared to be a silhouette of an Xbox console and controller.

Cyberpunk was pushed from its spring release date to to September 17. CD Projekt Red hopes that by that point, retail stores willl reopen. The studio has been open that it expects to release versions for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 as well, sometime after their launch.

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Apex Legends Map Change May Hint That Season 5 Connects To Titanfall 2

Apex Legends‘ Season 4: Assimilation is scheduled to end on May 5 and Respawn has possibly already started hinting at what’s coming in Season 5 with small in-game map changes. The latest map change includes an Easter egg to Titanfall 2‘s most infamous level–which makes sense, since Respawn said Apex Legends Season 5 would have a “pleasant surprise” for Titanfall fans.

If you go to The Dome on World’s Edge, you can now discover a mysterious datapad in one of the main buildings. If you look at it before picking it up, you’ll notice it grants access to something having to do with the ARES Division. Picking it up briefly flashes a message across the screen, which reads that there are more sub-level rooms to discover and the entry point seems to be Singh Labs. Reddit user HIRUZENandENMA was the first to find the datapad and reveal the full message–their post is embedded below.

So how does this tie back into Titanfall? The Archaeological RESearch Division (ARES) is a part of the IMC, first encountered in-game during Titanfall 2’s memorable Effect And Cause level, which takes place on the planet Typhon. ARES was attempting to fix the Fold Weapon, an alien technology that could bend time and space, in order to use it as a planet killer. You destroy it in Titanfall 2, but Apex Legends has long since hinted that people have continued the work that ARES started.

Back when the Singh Labs were added to Kings Canyon during the Voidwalker event and Crypto first appeared in-game, there was a laptop that you could interact with that revealed that, before she was Wraith, senior research science pilot Renee Blasey was experimenting with finding a way to fold space time in order to travel between dimensions. Thanks to the Voidwalker animated short, we know Wraith is originally from Typhon–she could have a connection to ARES, and that connection could be the driving force behind what’s coming in Season 5.

Wraith wouldn’t be the first legend to discover she has a bone to pick with the IMC. Crypto was framed by The Syndicate, a company revealed in hacked emails to have ties to Hammond Robotics, which was once (like ARES) a part of the IMC. And Revenant hates Hammond Robotics for forcing him to be their immortal slave, going so far as killing the company’s sponsored champion, Forge, on live television.

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FF7 Remake: Why Sephiroth’s Introduction Was Changed (And What Jaws Has To Do With It)

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake makes some changes to the original, mainly by filling in subtle character details and story gaps. One of the bigger changes is to the villainous Sephiroth, who appears much earlier than he did in the original. In an interview on the Square Enix blog, producer Yoshinori Kitase explained the rationale behind the change.

“The way we handled Sephiroth in the original Final Fantasy VII was to hide him–hold him back,” Kitase said. “You may not know this, but I was inspired by the movie Jaws which took a similar approach of teasing this powerful presence, but never fully showing you the shark until later in the story. We wanted to build him up as this really big, powerful character in people’s minds. By only referring to him indirectly, it created this feeling of fear and oppression–so when he makes his first appearance, it’s a big deal.”

But, Kitase explained, Sephiroth has become too well-known nowadays. His iconic status means using that same approach of holding him back isn’t as effective as a storytelling mechanic.

The other reason, he said, was a function of the multi-part saga. Since this is just the first entry of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, he wanted to make sure to lay some narrative groundwork.

“Sephiroth is this massively overarching presence that looms over the whole Final Fantasy VII saga,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that aspect of him was present in this first game in the project–that’s why we have introduced him much earlier in the story now.”

The earlier introduction of Sephiroth may also play into the ending and setting the stage for the second part. For a thorough look at the ending and what it might mean for the future, read up on our (very spoiler-filled) FF7 ending explained.

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake Video Review

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Binge It! Farscape’s Legacy as One of the Best Sci-Fi Shows Ever

All four seasons of Farscape are currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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When we think of iconic sci-fi franchises that paved the way for shows such as The Expanse or Killjoys, you typically hear names like Star Trek, Firefly, Stargate SG1, and Ronald D. Moore’s reimagining of Battlestar Galactica. And while those titles were pivotal in shaping the way we think of how modern spacefaring stories should be told, there’s one particular title that often gets lost in the mix. Farscape, running from 1999-2003, successfully blended the campiness often associated with the genre, while also incorporating some of the thematically darker, more character-driven stories that have become commonplace. If you find yourself cooped up at home and in need of a fantastic space adventure, Farscape will scratch that itch.

Binge It! Alice Isn’t Dead Is the Ultimate Mental Road Trip

Farscape was created by Rockne S. O’Bannon (seaQuest DSV, Defiance) and produced by the Jim Henson Company, whose Creature Shop was responsible for many of the puppets used throughout the series. The story centers on astronaut John Crichton after his experimental spacecraft — Farscape I — is propelled to a different part of the universe via a wormhole. There, Crichton hitches a ride with a band of criminal misfits aboard a living Leviathan ship named Moya. For much of the series, Moya and its crew are on the run from a militaristic force known as the Peacekeepers.

While many of the TV shows out today run for eight or 10 episodes per season, Farscape followed the older model of 22-24 hour-long episodes. But even with these extended seasons, Farscape excelled at blending episodic and serialized narratives together so there were very few filler episodes throughout its four-season run. At the macro level, the story is about Crichton trying to get back to Earth so he can be reunited with his family. However, some of the series’ most memorable moments exist in the quieter, more character-driven storylines.

BingeIt-Farscape_deck-cc3333 (1)Take Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), for example, a former Peacekeeper soldier who joins Moya’s crew. Since birth, Aeryn was trained to be a soldier, displaying very little empathy for anyone or anything. But as the series progresses, little by little, Crichton’s hopeful optimism begins to change the way she views the universe and its diverse inhabitants. Her arc is reminiscent of Finn’s from the most recent Star War trilogy, where we finally get to see a villainous stormtrooper as an actual person instead of just a mindless masked drone with zero personality.

The other members of Moya’s crew are equally delightful, from a helium-farting amphibious aristocrat named Dominar Rygel XVI (voiced by Jonathan Hardy) to a blue-skinned female priestess named Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey) to their Peacekeeper pursuers like Scorpius and Bialar Crais, every character has a unique personality and backstory.

After you’ve devoured all 88 episodes and you find yourself asking, “Shouldn’t there be more?”, well, you’re absolutely correct. Sadly, the series was cancelled midway through the fourth season after the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) found itself with new management that didn’t want to spend the money on a fifth and final season. Thankfully, co-producer Brian Henson acquired the rights to the franchise and partnered with O’Bannon to create a mini-series, titled Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (2004), which wrapped up the story for the fans. Since then, there have been graphic novels from BOOM! Studios, and even rumblings of a Farscape feature film.

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More From Binge It!…

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Binge It! is IGN’s recommendation series. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, music… if you can binge it, we’re here to talk about it. In each installment of Binge It!, we’ll discuss a piece of content we’re passionate about — and why you should check it out.

All The Free Steam Games You Can Play Or Claim This Weekend

Another week has come and gone, bringing a new wave of digital game deals, flash sales, and game giveaways. Many game publishers have ramped up their digital offerings in the past few weeks to provide cheap or free entertainment for everyone stuck inside, and the amount of free games we’ve seen has increased significantly. If you’re looking for some free games to try out this weekend on Steam, there’s a nice selection of freebies worth checking out.

Devolver Digital is currently having a huge Steam sale on virtually all of its games, and while you should definitely peruse the deals on Ape Out, Enter the Gungeon, Hotline Miami, and more, there are a couple of free-play options too. Through this weekend, you can play Devolver Bootleg, a collection of “eight original rip-offs” of Devolver games, like Hotline Milwaukee, Enter the Gun Dungeon, and Ape Out Jr. You can also play Absolver, an online multiplayer martial arts game where you fight against both other players and AI characters across the land of Adal, honing your skills to prove you’re worthy of joining the Absolver peacekeepers. The game earned a solid 8/10 in GameSpot’s Absolver review for its incredibly rewarding combat, beautiful art design, and deep fighter customization.

Several other games are free to play on Steam as well–be sure to check out Northgard, a real-time strategy game inspired by Norse mythology where you control a clan of Vikings, exploring and vying for control of a newly discovered continent. If you’re a fan of strategy games, be sure to play the excellent Total War: Warhammer II while it’s free for the next couple of days. And on a very different note, you can also jam out to Beat Hazard, a music-driven arcade shooter that’s also free to play.

While not available directly from Steam, you can snag a free Steam key over at Humble Bundle this weekend. The PC games site is currently offering the comical adventure game Manual Samuel for free–all you have to do is sign up for their newsletter, and you’ll get a copy of the game to own on Steam.

You can also grab the game Lost Daughter, an open-world action game about a man trying to find his daughter, directly from Steam. Reviews on Steam are pretty negative, but if you’re curious, it won’t cost you a dime to check out. Finally, if you already own Overcooked 2 on Steam, you can grab various DLC for the game, including Too Many Cooks and Surf ‘n’ Turf, for free. There’s also an Overcooked franchise sale going on right now if you’re interested in owning the base games.

You can check out all the current Steam freebies below. Be sure to check out our guide to all the free games you can claim to keep right now–there are a lot more free games available on other PC launchers as well as PS4, Xbox One, and mobile.

Free-play weekend games

Free-to-own games

Now Playing: Absolver – Gameplay Launch Trailer

Streets Of Rage 4 Release Date Announced

Streets of Rage 4, the long-awaited return for Sega’s iconic beat-em-up series, is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on April 30. You’ll be able to pick it up for $25 or via Xbox Game Pass.

Along with announcing the release date, developers Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games also unveiled a new trailer showing off Streets of Rage 4’s Battle Mode. The legacy mode–which is returning from Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3–lets you fight against friends in eight disparate arenas. Battle Mode is available for up to four players locally or two players online, whether you want to compete in a free-for-all brawl or partner up for some team-based action.

It’s been 25 years since the franchise’s last mainline entry. We got hands-on with the game back in 2018 and found it to be a nostalgic return to form for the classic series. Axel, Blaze, and Adam return along with a cast of new fighters and a striking hand-drawn art style. Olivier Derivière also delivers an original soundtrack, including contributions from series composers Yūzō Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima.

Now Playing: Streets Of Rage 4 – Battle Mode And Release Date Trailer

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The Essentials: How Darth Maul Went From Supporting Villain to Star Wars Icon

2020 has become a year where most of us have a lot more free time and a lot fewer ways of filling that time. The Essentials is a new feature where we take a deep dive into an iconic pop culture property or character and tell you exactly what you need to read, watch or otherwise consume in order to get the full story. Because it’s not like there’s anything better to do…

This time we’re taking a closer look at Star Wars villain Darth Maul. While Maul immediately won a fan following in The Phantom Menace thanks to his cool look and nifty, double-bladed lightsaber, he’s not a character who plays a heavy role in the Skywalker Saga. At least, not if you’re only watching the movies. But Maul has taken on a brand new life over the years thanks to animated series like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and various spinoff novels and comics. Not only did he survive what seemed like his certain death in Episode I, but that was really just the beginning of a long and tragic story.

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If you need to brush up on all things Darth Maul, especially with the character making a return appearance in the final season of The Clone Wars, we can help. Read on for a more or less chronological breakdown of the essential Darth Maul stories. Not all of these tales are still part of official Star Wars continuity, but each of them will help you better appreciate his surprisingly complex character arc.

Warning: some basic plot spoilers for Darth Maul’s story ahead!

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Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul (2014)

Wrath-of-Darth-Maul-2We might as well start with the one book every Darth Maul fan should read if they want a fuller understanding of his origins and place in the larger Star Wars saga. The Wrath of Darth Maul is one of a series of YA novels recounting the history of various Star Wars icons. Fortunately, Lucasfilm has a strong track record when it comes to publishing YA books that can still appeal to adult readers.

This book provides a cohesive look at Maul’s story, from his Sith training to his relationships with pivotal characters like Mother Talzin and Savage Opress. It also fills in some crucial gaps in the Maul timeline and shows us more of what unfolded in-between Maul’s apparent death in The Phantom Menace and his return in The Clone Wars.

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis (2012)

Darth-PlagueisTechnically, this novel is no longer part of the official Star Wars canon. But because it was published shortly before Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd. and well into the original run of The Clone Wars, it still works as an exploration of the history of the titular Sith Lord and the rise of Emperor Palpatine. Until Disney gives us the definitive Darth Plagueis story, this novel is the best resource we’ve got.

Despite its name, Darth Plagueis is really Palpatine’s story more so than Plagueis’. We learn how a simple politician from Naboo was recruited to the Dark Side and see the genesis of Palpatine’s decades-long plot to destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy. Maul himself plays a pretty small role in this story, but it’s still worth reading to get a better understanding of how the infant Nightbrother came to be in Palpatine’s care and the early role Maul played in his master’s plans.

Star Wars: Maul – Lockdown (2014)

Maul-LockdownOne of the last Star Wars novels published before Disney eliminated the old Expanded Universe, Lockdown can also be viewed as a spinoff of the Darth Plagueis novel. Lockdown is set about a year before the start of Episode I, a time when Palpatine is beginning to set his grand plan in motion while also plotting his master’s demise. Palpatine and Plagueis dispatch Maul to a remote prison colony in order to acquire a deadly weapon. And once there, Maul finds himself unleashing his skills and fighting in a gladiatorial arena.

If not the most important Darth Maul story in terms of his overall character arc, Lockdown is nonetheless a showcase for his ferocity and tenacity. In its own way, it also reminds us that Maul is a very tragic figure, one who was only ever treated as a useful but disposable tool by Palpatine.

Star Wars: Darth Maul – Shadow Hunter (2001)

Shadow-HunterShadow Hunter was among the first Star Wars novels to attempt to flesh out Maul’s mysterious background and relationship to Darth Sidious. A prequel to Episode I, Shadow Hunter sees Maul dispatched by his master to hunt down a Trade Federation defector, a Jedi Padawan and others who have evidence of Palpatine’s secret plans. Picture a Star Wars version of a Terminator movie and you have some idea of what to expect.

Again, the fact that this story was published well before the Disney era renders it non-canon, but it’s still an enjoyable look at Maul’s activities prior to Episode I. Newer versions of the book also include a short story called “Restraint,” which chronicles Maul’s first mission and attempts to draw in new story elements introduced in The Clone Wars.

“Old Wounds” (2005) & “Resurrection” (2001)

05 - Old WoundsLong before The Clone Wars took the idea of Darth Maul surviving the events of Episode I and made it official canon, Dark Horse Comics toyed with that plot twist in a pair of fascinating, albeit hypothetical stories. It’s worth hunting down both, if only to see the origins of this surprising Star Wars plot twist.

“Old Wounds” (from 2005’s Star Wars: Visionaries) features Maul tracking Obi-Wan Kenobi to Tatooine, threatening the life of an infant Luke Skywalker and perishing in a rematch with his old nemesis. While not in-continuity even in the pre-Disney era, this story did wind up directly influencing Maul’s return on The Clone Wars, right down to his distinctive, raptor-like cyborg legs.

06-Resurrection“Resurrection” (originally printed in 2001’s Star Wars Tales #9) settles a popular fan debate – who would win in a fight between Darth Maul and Darth Vader? Set shortly before Episode IV, this story features Vader hunting the Rebels who stole the Death Star plans and encountering a resurrected Maul. In true Highlander fashion, there can be only one Dark Lord of the Sith.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Seasons 3-5 (2011-2013)

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This animated series is where Maul’s story really took on new life. The Clone Wars bridges the three-year gap between Episodes II and III and chronicles the full scope of the destructive conflict between the Republic’s clone army and the Separatists’ droid armada. The series focuses on both iconic heroes and villains from the prequel movies as well as characters we never even knew about before, like Anakin’s Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

The Clone Wars took the fanciful notion of Maul having survived his battle with Obi-Wan and made it an official part of Star Wars canon. Maul’s story begins in Season 3, which introduces his brother Savage Opress and a brand new mythology involving the Nightsisters of Dathomir and a Dark Side witch named Mother Talzin. Talzin dispatches Savage to find his long-lost brother. After returning home and being restored to some semblance of full health, Maul and his brother begin an ongoing campaign to build an army of criminal cartels and claim vengeance on both Obi-Wan and Darth Sidious. Sidious may have orchestrated the Clone Wars conflict, but Maul and Mother Talzin wind up posing a serious threat to his control of the Dark Side.

08 - Clone Wars 02Maul is a recurring character throughout Seasons 3, 4 and 5. Here’s a list of all the relevant Maul/Savage Opress episodes if you’d prefer not to binge the entire series (all of which can be streamed on Disney+):

  • S3E12 – “Nightsisters”
  • S3E13 – “Monster”
  • S3E14 – “Witches of the Mist”
  • S3E21 – “Brothers”
  • S3E22 – “Revenge”
  • S4E1 – “Revival”
  • S5E14 – “Eminence”
  • S5E15 – “Shades of Reason”
  • S5E16 – “The Lawless”

Star Wars: Darth Maul – Son of Dathomir (2014)

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars was abruptly canceled after its fifth season in 2013, leaving a great many plot threads unresolved. While some of the in-progress episodes were eventually finished and released as part of the truncated Season 6, other unused scripts were adapted into comics or novels instead. That’s where Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir was born.

Son of Dathomir picks up where “The Lawless” left off in Season 5, as a defeated Maul has been imprisoned by his former master. But after being liberated by his Death Watch commandos, Maul unleashes the full power of his Shadow Collective and declares war on Darth Sidious and Count Dooku. This story serves as an essential bridge between Maul’s previous Clone Wars appearances and his return in the climactic Siege of Mandalore conflict. It explains how Maul escaped Sidious’ clutches and gives fans far more closure regarding Mother Talzin’s role in the war than Season 6 was able to deliver.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 7 (2020)

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A major gap in Maul’s post-Episode I story is finally filled thanks to the long-awaited seventh and final season of The Clone Wars. Season 7 is divided into three, four-episode story arcs. It’s the last of these which features Maul as a major villain. The final Clone Wars arc focuses on the Siege of Mandalore, as the titular world becomes the site of one of the last and most destructive conflicts in the war. As that battle plays out, Ahsoka Tano leads her own battalion of Clonetroopers and confronts Maul on Mandalore. At least some of this arc takes place during the events of Episode III, and fans finally learn how both Maul and Ahsoka survived the devastation of Order 66.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

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Star Wars fans who only follow the movies got a big surprise when Maul showed up alive and well (albeit missing two legs) near the end of Solo. Maul has very little screen time in this movie, but it still helps flesh out his role as a major criminal kingpin in the murky years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. His cameo shows us how his previous role as leader of the Shadow Collective evolved into Maul reigning over a vast organization known as Crimson Dawn. Plus, it’s pretty neat seeing original actor Ray Park and Clone Wars voice actor Sam Witwer come together to reinvent this iconic villain.

Maul’s role in Solo was clearly intended to set up a future Star Wars story where he’d play a bigger part. While no direct Solo sequel is currently in the works, a The Clone Wars: Season 7 episode does include a mention of Crimson Dawn. That seems to be a subtle clue that fans will see that story told in some form down the line.

Star Wars Rebels: Seasons 2 & 3 (2016-2017)

12 - Rebels 01While the final season of The Clone Wars wraps up Maul’s Prequel-era story, we’ve already seen where his journey takes him closer to the Original Trilogy era. Maul appears in several episodes of Star Wars Rebels, a series which focuses on a plucky band of Rebels lighting the way in a time before Luke Skywalker and Han Solo started hogging all the glory. Ahsoka also plays a big role in the series, making it a true successor to The Clone Wars.

Maul first appears in the two-part Season 2 finale, “Twilight of the Apprentice,” where he becomes an unlikely, if temporary, ally to Ahsoka and friends as they travel to the Sith world of Malachor and battle Darth Vader himself. Maul later resurfaces several times during Season 3. The episodes “The Holocrons of Fate” and “Visions and Voices” deal with Maul’s growing interest in budding Jedi Ezra Bridger.

13 - Rebels 02And finally, Maul’s story comes full circle in “Twin Suns,” as he tracks down Obi-Wan Kenobi and sets about finally claiming his long-awaited vengeance. The resulting confrontation is easily one of the greatest Star Wars moments of all time. Full stop.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.