When The Mandalorian and Grogu opens on the 2026 movies schedule in May, you won’t see The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, only hear him. That’s because he’s voicing Rotta the Hutt in the upcoming Star Wars movie, and our first teasing look at Jabba’s adult son in the teaser trailer released last September showed he’s ridiculously muscular. Now the first full look at Rotta in The Mandalorian and Grogu has dropped, and it comes for an explanation from director Jon Favreau about why he’s so jacked.
Rotta was previously depicted as an infant in the 2008 movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the episode “Sphere of Influence” of the same-named follow-up TV series. The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place roughly three decades later, and now the Hutt definitely looks like he has no problem holding his own in a fight. Check it out:
Hutts are a naturally large species, but even so, they’re not usually known for keeping in shape, as evidenced by how little Jabba and the Twins from The Book of Boba Fett were shown moving. Rotta is one of the few exceptions, and he got so ripped under extreme circumstances. As Jon Favreau informed Empire:
[Rotta’s] in top form, fighting in the pits, a gladiator of sorts.
First off, I definitely wouldn’t want to be within arm’s reach of Rotta, as I’m sure he can behead someone with one of those axes or pull the ears off a gundark without breaking a sweat. But being an effective fighter requires more than just strength, and I’m curious how the bulky Hutt is doing in the speed department. After all, if he can’t quickly reach his opponent, then what’s the point?
More importantly, though, is how did Rotta end up as a gladiator? As the son of one of the galaxy far, far away’s most notorious crime lords, you’d think he wouldn’t have to do in order to survive or make a living, even after Jabba was killed by Leia Organa. Well, according to Jon Favreau, it boils down to wanting to make a name for himself and stepping out of his late father’s shadow, comparing Rotta to Adonis Creed from the Creed movies. As the filmmaker put it:
When you’re trying to establish yourself and your name is famous, when you’re Jabba The Hutt’s kid, what does that do? How has that affected his trajectory? I get a kick out of that.
It’s still unclear if Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin will actually tussle with Rotta during The Mandalorian and Grogu or if he’ll seek him out for some other reason and find the Hutt in the middle of one of his gladiator fights. It also remains to be seen if Rotta is a villain in the movie or just a rough-around-the-edges guy who will have a more neutral role in the story, as I can’t imagine he would become one of Din’s allies so easily. Jeremy Allen White also mentioned to Empire that there’s “a little bit of Huttese” in the next Star Wars movie, but for the most part Rotta will be speaking in Basic, i.e. English.
We’ll see just how formidable Rotta the Hutt is when The Mandalorian and Grogu is released in theaters on May 22. While we wait for the movie, which will hopefully include the Hutt sharing his workout routine, remember that the Star Wars movies and TV shows can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription. So head over there if you’d like to revisit infant Rotta or The Mandalorian’s first three seasons.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
