Mandalorian & Grogu Actor Reacts To His Mystery Star Wars Villain’s Name

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Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Mandalorian & Grogu

One of the biggest lingering mysteries surrounding The Mandalorian & Grogu ahead of the new Star Wars movie’s release involved one of its key Imperial Remnant villains. First debuting in The Mandalorian season 3 as part of the Imperial Shadow Council, actor Jonny Coyne played one of several unnamed Imperial warlords on the Disney+ series. However, that’s finally changed thanks to Coyne’s latest appearance clashing with Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and his adopted son.

In a recent interview with Kevin Erdmann from ScreenRant, actor Jonny Coyne discussed his upcoming movie. Though he avoided revealing any major plot points, Coyne shared some fun stories from the set and hinted at the name of his character, a mysterious warlord.

When it was announced that Jonny Coyne would reprise his role as the Imperial warlord in The Mandalorian & Grogu, fans immediately started guessing his character’s name. While some hoped he’d be a well-known Imperial villain from the older Star Wars stories, the actual name turned out to be surprisingly funny.

Jonny Coyne Reveals His Reaction To His Mandalorian Villain’s Name: Lord Janu Coin

In The Mandalorian & Grogu, the character of Lord Janu, a supporter of Rotta the Hutt, is surprisingly revealed to be the same person as Commander Coin, a shadowy Imperial warlord. Both roles are brilliantly played by actor Jonny Coyne, and this clever naming choice was a deliberate decision by director and writer Jon Favreau.

While he was unable to share his character’s name in ScreenRant’s interview, Jonny Coyne did reveal when he first learned of his Star Wars character’s name and his initial reaction.

It’s funny, even as a big fan of the show, I was so curious about my character’s name! ScreenRant asked if the creators told me what it was during filming for Season 3 of The Mandalorian, or if I had to wait until the movie to find out. It was definitely a mystery for a while!

I first encountered the character’s name when I received the contract for ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu.’ It’s a really fun name, and honestly, it immediately made me understand what was going on. I can’t reveal any more details than that, though.

Honestly, it’s a pretty fun and rare Star Wars naming convention. Notable examples include Revenge of the Sith’s Jedi Master Cin Drallig, who fought Anakin Skywalker in the Jedi Temple, played by Lucasfilm stunt coordinator Nick Gillard (“Drallig” being Gillard backwards). Likewise, actor Warwick Davis played Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi, the Ewok hero who befriended Leia Organa.

Admittedly, the fan theories speculating that Coyne’s character could be a canonized version of someone like Legends’ Warlord Zsinj were pretty solid. After all, Coyne’s look and involvement with the Shadow Council does resemble the classic foe from the former Expanded Universe.

Instead, Favreau simply chose to Star Wars-ify Jonny Coyne’s real name to “Janu Coin”, and the actor was absolutely right. The reveal in The Mandalorian & Grogu did indeed make me smile.

Is There A Future For Lord Janu In Star Wars Beyond The Mandalorian & Grogu?

At the end of The Mandalorian & Grogu, Lord Janu was taken into custody and revealed that Jabba’s cousins, the Twins, had been deceiving the New Republic. They were secretly working with what remained of the Empire. However, Imperial leaders have escaped New Republic custody before, as seen with Moff Gideon.

Given that, it’s likely Lord Janu could appear in future projects for the New Republic. Similarly, Coyne has expressed willingness to reprise his role if Lucasfilm asks him to. He also shared that he’s very happy with and thankful for his experience working on Star Wars so far.

ScreenRant asked if fans would like to see this character return in future Star Wars stories and if there’s potential for them to be part of the franchise’s future.

Jonny Coyne: Always happy to make an appearance in Star Wars, but you have to understand, this is as high as any actor could…Every actor’s dream is to do a franchise movie like this. So as far as I’m concerned, I’ve done it. And if there’s any more to be had after that, fantastic. But I’ve enjoyed the ride.

At the beginning of the interview, Coyne also revealed that he originally saw A New Hope in theaters back in 1977 when he was around 18 years old. Nearly five decades later, he’s now part of the galaxy far, far away itself, an incredible journey for a longtime Star Wars fan if there ever was one. Even if we don’t see Lord Janu again, it’s more than likely that Jonny Coyne will remain part of the Star Wars legacy for years to come (especially with such a fun character name so close to his own).

The new film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, from Lucasfilm is now playing in theaters. You can also connect with Jonny Coyne on Instagram.

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2026-05-22 16:10