Forget Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars Reveals An Epic New Podracer Belonging To Darth Maul
Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #4 When Star Wars fans think about podracing, Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba are likely the first racers to come to mind (though real ones also think of Ben Quadinaros). An extremely fast and dangerous sport, podracing first debuted in The Phantom Menace with the Boonta Eve Classic on Tatooine, a race won by Skywalker thanks to his fast reflexes. However, Star Wars has just revealed that a very surprising character also has some secret podracing skills: Darth Maul.
In Marvel's brand-new and canonical Shadow of Maul #4 by Benjamin Percy and Madibek Musbekov, set before the events of Maul - Shadow Lord, it's revealed that the former Sith Lord not only has experience with podracing, but technically owned a pretty incredible pod of his own between the prequel and original trilogies, right as he was beginning to rebuild his criminal empire during the "Dark Times".
Before Shadow Lord, Maul Piloted His Own Podracer On Janix
Marvel's Shadow of Maul #4 takes readers to the Outer Rim world of Janix, where a brutal podracing event known as the Star Gauntlet is underway before the events of Maul's recent Shadow Lord animated series. Featuring Captain Brander Lawson and his droid partner Two-Boots, the Janix detective gradually discovers that a much darker game is being played behind the scenes. The Star Guantlet's deadliest racer is Tor Braxis, a notoriously violent competitor sponsored by crime boss Nico Deemis. Secondly, it's eventually revealed that Braxis also accepted money from rival crime lord Looti Vario to intentionally throw the race before reaching the first checkpoint. Thirdly, Braxis was also hired by Maul (who recently arrived on Janix) to steal 100 million credits from Janix's largest casino, crashing into multiple racers and using the resulting chaos to secretly maneuver his pod underneath the facility.
However, Maul naturally betrays and decapitates Braxis once the racer served his purpose. Claiming the fortune to fund his future operations on Janix, Maul also takes Braxis' pod, escaping the scene in his very own podracer before Janix authorities arrive, leaving Lawson with no clue as to who this mysterious third party was. All things considered, Maul's brand-new pod is remarkably fitting for the former Sith lord, a massive black single-engine racer that looks more like a deadly battering ram than anything else. While it would have been fun to see the vehicle appear in the animated Shadow Lord series and its various speeder chases, it was likely far too conspicuous for Maul and his agents to use in the shadows and bowels of Janix. Even so, it's pretty cool that Darth Maul canonically had a secret podracer, however briefly.
Technically, Darth Maul Has Been A Secret Podracer For 24 Years
As surprising as this reveal may seem, longtime Star Wars gamers may recognize that Maul's connection to podracing goes back much further than this new comic. Back in 2002's Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Darth Maul was a secret unlockable racer with a custom pod inspired by his Sith Infiltrator seen in The Phantom Menace.
Although the classic game exists outside the modern canon, it's pretty funny that Star Wars has now canonized Maul's podracing skills more than two decades later in the new Shadow of Maul #4. It's also just fun, plain and simple. After all, the Star Wars franchise is at its best when it finds new ways to flesh out familiar characters with brand-new stories. To that end, Darth Maul technically having his very own podracer in the official Star Wars canon is exactly the kind of bizarre lore expansion I love to see. Shadow of Maul #4 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Release Date
April 6, 2026
Network
Disney+
Directors
Brad Rau
