Why The Mandalorian And Grogu's Main Villain Looks So Familiar

This article contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian and Grogu."

For the first time in nearly seven years, we've got a new "Star Wars" movie in theaters. The film in question is "The Mandalorian and Grogu," which brings the bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his adopted son Grogu to the big screen after three seasons of "The Mandalorian" on Disney+. Naturally, that means they have a new villain to contend with as well. Several of them, actually, but the baddie that sets the whole thing in motion is one who might look familiar for a few reasons.

Directed by Jon Favreau, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" takes place some time after "The Mandalorian" Season 3 on the "Star Wars" timeline. The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. So, the New Republic enlists Din and Grogu to take down some of these Imperial remnants. The one at the center of the story's central mission is Lord Janu, played by Jonny Coyne.

There are quite a few villainous characters in the "Star Wars" galaxy and, relative to someone like Palpatine or Darth Vader, Lord Janu is a little unassuming at first. He just seems like a run-of-the-mill guy running a crooked operation on a seedy planet. Even the Hutts appear more menacing on the surface and end up being the bigger threat by the time the movie's third act rolls around. But Janu's ties to the Empire make him a meaningful threat nonetheless.

Mando and Grogu ultimately manage to bring him into custody, choosing to bring him in warm rather than cold, given the information that he can provide to the New Republic is very valuable. As for why Janu looks familiar? Well, for one, this isn't the first time we've seen him in "Star Wars."

At first, Jonny Coyne's Janu comes across as a means to an end that will allow Mando to bring Rotta the Hutt (who is played by Jeremy Allen White in the movie) back to the Hutt twins so that they can give him the information he needs to find the mysterious former Imperial, of which the New Republic knows precious little about. However, it turns out that Janu is the very Imperial that Mando is looking for.

Eagle-eyed "Star Wars" obsessives may have connected these dots, though, as Jonny Coyne briefly showed up in "The Mandalorian" as an unnamed warlord. Specifically, he was in "Chapter 23: The Spies," i.e. the Season 3 episode that gave Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon his Darth Vader-esque makeover. Janu, whose name we simply didn't know at the time, was part of the hologram Shadow Council in that particular chapter.

What we come to learn is that he's running a seedy operation involving deadly fights and the salt trade. But that is more of a cover for the fact that he's actually an Imperial loyalist who is trying to help the Empire take back control of the galaxy just as the fledgling New Republic is attempting to establish order and lawfulness. That makes the villain's cameo in "The Mandalorian" take on greater importance, but it also might explain why certain folks will feel that he has an air of familiarity.

Beyond that, even for those who didn't recall a one-and-done, minor character from "The Mandalorian" (or for those who maybe didn't even watch Season 3), Jonny Coyne is a working character actor who has been a lot of places and done a lot of things. Recognizing him from one of his many other on screen roles would be reasonable.

Coyne has been working pretty steadily in Hollywood dating back to the mid-1990s, with some of his earliest credits coming in the 1996 "Gulliver's Travels" miniseries and the 1997 movie "Secrets & Lies." On the cinema front, he's also appeared in films like "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life," "Gangster Squad," "The Hangover Part II," "Nightcrawler," and the recent "The Toxic Avenger" remake, among others.

One of Coyne's bigger TV roles came in J.J. Abrams' canceled time travel series "Alcatraz," in which he played Warden Edwin James. Broadly speaking, Coyne has had a pretty impressive, varied career in the world of television, having appeared in dozens of shows, often as a guest star or via multi-episode stints. For example, some of his many other credits include "The Blacklist," "11.22.63," "Salem," "Turn: Washington's Spies," and "Preacher," among others.

Now, though, he's a pretty meaningful part of the "Star Wars" galaxy. That's the kind of thing that can take an actor a long way. If nothing else, Coyne will probably be able to make a gig out of touring the convention circuit going forward. Many "Star Wars" veterans have made a living out of that with a lot less screen time.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is in theaters now.