Who is Commander Coin? Uncovering clues about the Star Wars Mandalorian and Grogu villain

Less than a month out from release, the plot of the next Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, remains a mystery. We know the dynamic Disney Plus duo will work as bounty hunters for a New Republic military leader named Ward (Sigourney Weaver) as they take out any surviving members of the Empire. And we know they'll team up with Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) along the way. But we still have no idea who the villain of the movie will be, which is kind of weird when you remember that most Star Wars movies live or die by their villain.

The original Star Wars had Darth Vader, and by the end of that trilogy, we had Emperor Palpatine as well. The prequels introduced other iconic villains like Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and General Greivous, while the Disney-era sequels gave us Snoke and then, somehow, Palpatine yet again. But when it comes to The Mandalorian and Grogu, all we know about the movie's big bad is two words: Commander Coin.

That pseudonym is revealed in the opening 15 minutes of the movie, which Polygon got to see at a press preview event in April. Early in the film, Ward tasks Mando and Grogu with tracking down this mysterious Imperial leader, whose identity and location are unknown. It's an intriguing setup that will hopefully lead to a big reveal. But in the meantime, I picked up a few more clues during a visit to the film's Los Angeles set that same day.

While The Mandalorian and Grogu finished filming in December 2025, parts of the set are still standing at a small studio in LA. The cluster of buildings also includes a massive prop closet (more like a building itself) full of vehicles, weapons, droids, and creatures from various Star Wars film and television — including a few associated with Commander Coin himself.

Image: Polygon

For starters, I noticed an impressive desk with legs carved to resemble Rancors (the massive monster Luke Skywalker kills in Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi). When I asked the film's prop master, Josh Roth, about the desk, he told me it belonged to Commander Coin. He then pointed to a wall of creature heads on the other side of the room, explaining that those were all mounted on the wall of Coin's office in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

(When I asked Roth if he knows the true identity of Coin, he played coy: "Yeah, he's Commander Coin.)

Image: Polygon

A closer look at those poor creatures reveals several iconic beasts from across the Star Wars franchise. There's a Tauntaun like the one Luke rides at the start of The Empire Strikes Back. There's also a Reek and a Nexu, two of the monsters from the coliseum scene in Attack of the Clones.

After that it gets a bit tricky. The creature with the flat forehead and the gaping mouth appears to be a Vexis, aka the giant snake that attacks Rey and her friends in The Rise of Skywalker. The similar-looking creature to its right almost looks like an Exogorth, the giant slug-like creature living on an asteroid in The Empire Strikes Back. Except… this head is way too small. Unless maybe it's a baby Exogorth? As for that black-haired fellow with the big beard, I have no idea what he is or where he comes from within Star Wars canon or beyond.

Regardless, it seems clear that Coin is a collector of monsters and beasts from across the Star Wars galaxy. It's almost as if he's been following the major events of these movies and picking up the literal pieces. Could this be a clue that this mystery villain has a direct connection to the previous movies?

Commander Coin could be almost anyone. He could be Grand Admiral Thrawn (although he's technically lost in the Unknown Regions at this point in the timeline). He could even be Palpatine — or a Palpatine clone. More likely, he's a totally new character invented for the movie, even if that's the least exciting answer.

But whoever he is, if Coin managed to get his hands on all those monster heads, he's probably going to make for a very tough enemy. Hopefully, Mando and Grogu are up for the challenge.

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters on May 22.