Jeremy Allen White playing a giant space slug surely isn't something people imagined they would hear, yet here we are. The actor is set to play Jabba the Hutt's son in The Mandalorian & Grogu, and this may be as surprising as it is disturbing for some because it means that, somehow, Jabba the Hutt gets down. But some of us have carried this dark knowledge within us for quite some time, because we actually met Jabba's son back in 2008, when the infant Rotta the Hutlett made his debut in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Yes, a baby Hutt is called a Hutlett, and they can be quite troublesome.
Rotta the Hutt Is the Key to the First Chapters in ‘The Clone Wars’
Image via Lucasfilm
It may come as a surprise, but Jabba's surname isn't "the Hutt." Like most beings in the Star Wars galaxy, he has an actual name, Jabba Desilijic Tiure, as well as a complete family. We get to meet some of them in 2008's The Clone Wars movie when baby Rotta is kidnapped as part of a scheme to deteriorate the Hutts' relations with the Republic, and it falls to Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) to rescue the Hutlett.
The kidnapping (or huttnapping, if you will) was meant to look like it was done by a rival gangster, when, in fact, it was Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) who did it. Back then, she was a Dark Side assassin training under Count Dooku (Corey Burton), hoping to prove herself and eventually become a full-fledged Sith Lady. Darth Sidious' (Ian Abercrombie) plan was to manipulate the Hutts into siding with the Separatists by having the Jedi fail to rescue Rotta, but it didn't quite work out.
With the help of Jabba's own uncle, Ziro the Hutt (also Burton), Ventress takes Rotta to a monastery on the planet Teth. It's one of Anakin and Ahsoka's first missions together, which also briefly appears in live-action in a flashback sequence in Ahsoka. They succeed in rescuing Rotta and hurry back to Tatooine to deliver him to Jabba, as the Hutlett is falling ill. Dooku tracks them to Tatooine and engages in an epic duel with Anakin in the Dune Sea. However, it turns out Anakin dispatched Ahsoka with Rotta before meeting Dooku, so the baby is safely delivered to his father.
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Other Members of Jabba the Hutt’s Family Appear in Star Wars
The dynamics of Hutt intercourse aside (Roger Ebert once speculated it must be similar to snails), Jabba has quite a big family, actually. Most of them are criminals, given the Hutts' natural inclination to the trade, and the kind of backstabbing that Ziro does to Jabba in The Clone Wars isn't uncommon. Ziro himself had a burlesque parlor on Coruscant at that time but was eventually murdered by the Hutt Council to prevent him from leaking confidential information.
There is no confirmation on how many relatives Jabba has, but, besides Ziro, we have already met Gorga the Hutt (Kevin Michael Richardson) in The Clone Wars, who was the accountant for the Hutt Council, and Ziro also mentions having another brother, Ebor, besides Jabba's unnamed father. Later, in The Book of Boba Fett, two of Jabba's cousins, known only as the Twins, show up on Tatooine to claim his palace and business. Once they learn that Jabba's estate has been promised to the Pyke Syndicate, however, the Twins give up their claim and leave Tatooine.
Rotta the Hutt Would Be of Age in ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’
The Clone Wars is the last time Rotta the Hutlett was ever seen or mentioned in Star Wars, but news of his return shouldn't be surprising. The movie is set in 22 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin, seen in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope), while The Mandalorian Season 3 takes place around 11 ABY (after the battle). Rotta's age isn't confirmed in the movie, but he must have been two years old tops, meaning that, by the time The Mandalorian & Grogu takes place, he is likely around 35 years old.
With some six years between Jabba the Hutt's death in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian & Grogu, it makes sense for Rotta to be back and of age, probably looking to make a name for himself or even try and take over what is left of his father's criminal empire. In this case, it would make sense for Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) to appear, and, if Rotta is looking for revenge, maybe even Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) or Han Solo (Harrison Ford), since they were directly responsible for Jabba's death. The only thing that we definitely want to see, though, is how Rotta will look in The Mandalorian & Grogu. There's precedent in the comics for buff Hutts, so we say let Jeremy Allen White be handsome!
The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theaters on May 22, 2026. The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
The Mandalorian & Grogu follows Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) and his adopted son, Grogu, as they embark on a new adventure. After settling on the planet Nevarro at the end of Season 3, their peaceful life is disrupted, leading them back into the galaxy's conflicts.
Custom Image by Zanda Rice
Image via Lucasfilm 
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