With the Mandalorian and Grogu making their silver screen debut in the aptly named The Mandalorian & Grogu, fans are expecting some returning faces, including Zeb from Rebels and a newly buff Rotta the Hutt. But alongside old friends are sure to be a host of brand-new characters, which means a wealth of opportunities to sneak in Easter eggs for hardcore fans.
In fact, we already know that one character will be joining us from the fringes of Star Wars canon, and even if we don’t quite know who he is yet, we can make a few educated guesses.
In an interview with Empire, The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau noted that one character will strike fans as familiar. Favreau highlighted Jonny Coyne’s “Imperial Warlord,” saying that fans will “like his character name.” He’s actually appeared before, in the Shadow Council Moff Gideon contacted in The Mandalorian Season 3, but we’ll soon learn more about him given that he’s featured in several images from the upcoming movie.
Jonny Coyne’s Imperial Warlord will soon get a proper, and apparently familiar, name.
Of course, fan speculation started immediately, with some fans suggesting that he could be a relative of another character, while others suggested that he would serve as an Easter egg referencing Favreau, Dave Filoni, or another real-world creative. But looking at all of Star Wars canon — including the old, now non-canon Legends universe — there is a clear candidate.
That would be Zsinj, an Imperial admiral turned warlord who appeared in Legends books throughout the late ‘90s. First introduced in The Courtship of Princess Leia, he was typically portrayed as a nemesis of Han Solo. Zsinj had slicked-back hair and an imposing mustache, while the movie’s warlord is bald, clean-shaven, and all-around Uncle Fester-y, but aesthetics don’t matter as much as how he fits into the timeline and story.
Zsinj in Star Wars: The Essential Atlas.
Zsinj’s appearances in the X-Wing stories set immediately after Return of the Jedi gave him a major role in the post-Empire Star Wars universe, as he was the most powerful of the warlords who arose in the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s demise. Technically, he was defeated a bit before The Mandalorian and Grogu is set, but that’s the joy of reviving non-canon characters: you aren’t beholden to making old stories line up perfectly with the present.
Even if this warlord isn’t Zsinj, this quote from Favreau proves that no opportunity to delight fans will be squandered. If there’s a name, then it’s likely that it’ll be a reference to something, be that an old villain or a bigwig at Lucasfilm.
