Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider broke the news yesterday December 9, 2024 on The Kristian Harloff Show that Jeremy Allen White has been cast in the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian & Grogu to play Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta the Hutt. This news had many of us excited, but also scratching our heads in confusion. While this news isn’t “officially official” yet, Sneider has an incredible track record of breaking scoops–he was the first to accurately report Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom–so we can almost certainly bank on this news being reliable.
What does this news mean for Star Wars? Keep reading and we’ll break it all down for you.
EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Allen White joins THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU. Find out what the role is here…https://t.co/4B0hvrrdOP
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) December 9, 2024
Jeremy Allen White Joins the Galaxy Far, Far Away
First off, Jeremy Allen White is an incredibly talented actor whose popularity is skyrocketing. He is best known for his roles as eldest brother Lip in Showtime’s Shameless, Chef Carmy Berzatto in FX’s The Bear, and Kerry Von Erich in The Iron Claw. In addition to that, White is set to star as Bruce Springsteen in the upcoming biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere.
If you’ve ever seen White act in anything, you’ll know he delivers compelling and even mesmerizing performances in every role he’s in. The guy is an absolute superstar, so for Star Wars to go out and get him is a huge win for the franchise.
Now, this will almost certainly be a voice-only role, as awesome and funny as it would be to see White put on a motion-capture suit and slouch around like a Hutt. It’s also possible we won’t even recognize White in the role since he’ll likely only speak Huttesse and could adapt a voice appropriate for a Hutt. Either way, for a talented actor like White to be attached to The Mandalorian & Grogu is cool news for Star Wars fans.
Rotta the Hutt: The Clone Wars Connection
We’ve actually already seen Rotta the Hutt appear in a Star Wars project. Rotta made his debut in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. In the movie, we see Jabba’s uncle Ziro the Hutt conspire with Count Dooku to kidnap Rotta and frame the Jedi for the crime, an attempt to turn Jabba against the Galactic Republic.
Rotta was about 10 years old at the time of the Clone Wars, still a cute baby in terms of a Hutt’s lifespan. This will make him about 45 by the time of The Mandalorian & Grogu. Given that Hutts can live to over 1,000 years old–Jabba was about 600 when he died in Return of the Jedi–we are not yet sure just how much Rotta will have grown, but he will likely still be a child or early adolescent.
Rotta’s Role in The Mandalorian & Grogu
Given Rotta’s young age, it seems unlikely he will be ready to take up his father’s throne. So, what could his role look like in The Mandalorian & Grogu? Could he be just another cute character to sell toys alongside Grogu? A source of comic relief?
Or perhaps Rotta could be an unlikely ally? After all, he and Grogu have a lot in common: they are around the same age, both their species live hundreds of years, both cute characters that will appeal to kids and adults alike, and Rotta even served a similar role in The Clone Wars to Grogu’s in The Mandalorian.
Or maybe Rotta’s role will have to do with the succession of Jabba’s throne. In The Book of Boba Fett, we saw Boba Fett claim Jabba’s throne and palace for himself, as he aimed to rule with respect instead of fear. Fett’s claim was soon challenged by Jabba’s cousins, the Hutt twins, who eventually abandoned Tatooine after hearing Jabba’s holdings had been promised to the Pyke Syndicate. However, we have no idea where Rotta is during all of this. Maybe the twins or some other Hutt will try to use Rotta as a pawn to lay a better claim to Jabba’s throne. This could see the escalation of some conflict that would require Mando and Grogu to get involved and reunite with their friend Boba Fett.
In Conclusion
We are very interested to see what Jeremy Allen White does as Rotta the Hutt, and how he’ll pull off the voice. Is he just going into the recording booth to mumble some indecipherable Huttese? Either way, it is exciting to have him on board in the Star Wars franchise.
What do you think of this casting? Cool or meh? Do you have any theories as to what Rotta’s role will be in this movie? Does this news make you more or less excited for The Mandalorian & Grogu? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
rotta the hutt when anakin skywalker and ahsoka tano are calling him stinky pic.twitter.com/7LuGw3LPgc
— hayden 🫀 @ miami n3 (@mcuwaititi) December 9, 2024