Jeremy Allen White Cast As Surprising Star Wars Legacy Character In The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie

Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu is rumored to have cast The Bear star Jeremy Allen White in a surprising role. According to Jeff Sneider (via the Krisitan Harloff Show), White has joined Star Wars Universe in a voice role – and the character that he’s voicing is allegedly “Rotta the Hutt,” the son of Jabba the Hutt. This is a character that hardcore Star Wars fans know well, as he was kind of an original “Baby Yoda,” i.e. a miniaturized version of a character fans know and love. It could also be a major indicator of what kind of story we’re getting in The Mandalorian & Grogu if the Hutts are involved…

Who Is Rotta the Hutt?

Rotta the Hutt first appeared in the original Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie that launched the pivotal animated series. He was positioned as the major MacGuffin of the film, as Count Dooku tried to frame the Jedi for kidnapping Jabba’s son, while also using his Separatist connections to ally with Jabba’s traitorous uncle, Ziro, in bid to control the Outer Rim underworld. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and new padawan Ahsoka Tano managed to save Rotta, foil Dooku’s plot, expose Ziro’s betrayal and win enough favor with Jabba to keep the Republic’s hyperspace lanes open and running in the region.

While Rotta has never been a major character in Star Wars, the mission of saving him did become a pivotal milestone in Star Wars, starting a long history between the Skywalkers and Jabba, which ultimately led to the brutal battles in Return of the Jedi‘s first act, which saw Luke Skywalker, Leia and their Rebel friends save Han Solo from his years being imprisoned by Jabba, and finally kill the notorious crime lord in a final battle over a Sarlacc Pit. Rotta obviously lived and is, by the time of the New Republic Era (when The Mandalorian & Grogu takes place), a fully-grown gangster slug.

What This Casting Says About Mandalorian & Grogu

There’s been a lot of turnover on Tatooine since Jabba the Hutt died. The Book of Boba Fett was an entire series about how Boba Fett survived the Battle of the Sarlacc Pit and went on to build his own crime syndicate. By the end of the limited series, Boba allied with assassin Fennec Shand, and their gang had taken over Jabba’s Palace, besting the likes of Cad Bane in order to grab power. If Rotta the Hutt is appearing in The Mandalorian & Grogu it’s hard to imagine him not having an issue with losing his family home to Boba Fett, and wanting to do something about it.

Not only does that put a potential target on Mando and Grogu – it also opens the door of the possibility that we’ll see Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett and/or Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand making appearances in the film. That’s probably for the best, as it’s clear that Disney and Lucasfilm aren’t planning any more BoBF seasons on Disney+.

Jeremy Allen White will be working on The Bear Season 4 – no timeline on if/when he’s already recorded his vocal performance.

The Mandalorian & Grogu has a release date of May 22, 2026. The Mandalorian co-creator and showrunner Jon Favreau (Iron Man) directs from a script he co-wrote with Clone Wars and Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni.