Star Wars: The Mandalorian – Gor Koresh Hides a Very Fun John Leguizamo Cameo

This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers.

Star Wars is well-known for including fun cameos in its movies and TV series, whether it’s James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Star Trek star Simon Pegg in The Force Awakens or Mark Hamill sneakily appearing in The Mandalorian. As fun as it is to watch new Star Wars stories, it’s almost as fun to try to catch the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos throughout.

Cameo fans woke up to a particular treat this morning with the season 2 premiere of The Mandalorian, which is titled “The Marshal.” While we get to meet a new character played by Timothy Olyphant, Cobb Vanth isn’t the only guest star in the episode’s 54-minute runtime. There’s also the actor who plays Gor Koresh, the gambling Abyssin informant who Mando meets at the start of the episode to get information on the whereabouts of other Mandalorian tribes. The one-eyed alien gets only a few brief minutes to live before being devoured by a pack of carnivorous creatures, but the scene is just long enough for us to recognize whose voice is behind Koresh.

It’s none other than Colombian actor and stand-up comedian John Leguizamo, who makes his Star Wars debut as the fast-talking mobster with a plan to steal Mando’s armor. It’s unfortunate that Leguizamo’s character meets such a quick and cruel end but that’s what happens when you come between a Mandalorian and his mission.

Unlike Olyphant’s Cobb Vanth, it doesn’t seem like Koresh wants Mandalorian armor for altruistic reasons or to help others. He just wants the precious beskar that will sell for a pretty penny on the black market. In the end, he’s the one who pays the price.

While Leguizamo has carved out quite an empire for himself in the world of comedy as one of the most successful Latinx comedians on the planet, sci-fi fans probably know him best from the much maligned Super Mario Bros. movie, but he also played the main villain in the…equally maligned Spawn movie and starred in George A. Romero’s return to zombie films, Land of the Dead, a movie which at least this writer thinks is pretty good.

His most recent popular work is in the John Wick movies, although Leguizamo also co-starred in the 2014 movie Chef, which starred and was directed by The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau, who also sat behind the camera for “The Marshal.”

Leguizamo is just one of several Latinx actors who have joined the Star Wars universe since Disney purchased the franchise in 2012. That list also includes Sequel Trilogy star Oscar Isaac, The Last Jedi‘s Benicio del Toro Rogue One‘s Diego Luna, and The Mandalorian‘s own Pedro Pascal. We love to see it.

The Mandalorian season 2 airs on Fridays at 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Disney+.