Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu continues to drop some revealing casting – and now we know that the Star Wars villain connected to Grand Amiral Thrawn will be featured in the film! Actor Jonny Coyne will be reprising his role as “Imperial Warlord” – a character who already made an appearance in Season 3 of The Mandalorian, as part of “The Shadow Council,” i.e. the cabal of Imperial loyalists (and Thrawn faithful) that Grand Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) belonged to.
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Imperial Warlord’s claim to fame (or infamy) was pulling hit-and-run raids along hyperspace lanes – the kind of piracy that other members of the Shadow Council worried would attract too much attention, and alert the New Republic government that an organized attempt to resurrect the Empire was underway.
Interestingly enough, Coyne’s casting in The Mandalorian & Grogu comes on the heels of a report that The Bear star Jeremy Allen White has also been cast in the Star Wars film. White is reportedly voicing the character of Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba, and potentially an up-and-coming gangster on Tatooine. That’s a growing web of threats that Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu are caught up in – not to mention other characters like Boba Fett, who is currently trying to run his own crime syndicate in Jabba the Hutt’s old palace on Tatooine. The Hutts and Imperial raiders are all up to no good (and possibly working together), and little does anyone know that Grand Admiral Thrawn has indeed returned to the galaxy, and is already building a new base of power on Dathomir, combining military strategy and the dark Force magic of the Nightsisters.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu reportedly finished principal production this fall, and since then there have been numerous cast and/or cameo teases. Sigourney Weaver (Alien) will appear in the film; Katee Sckhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze may be back, and some think there could be some twist that even brings back Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, after his apparent death in The Mandalorian Season 3 finale.
The film is being directed by Jon Favreau (The Mandalorian) and is expected to be a pivotal chapter of Star Wars‘ New Republic Saga, which includes The Mandalorian TV series and Ahsoka – with the latter show already set for Season 2. Dave Filoni is also set to direct a major Star Wars event film set in the New Republic, which will serve as a culminating event for that era.
Source: Deadline
