Empire has dropped a new image from The Mandalorian & Grogu showing Rotta the Hutt — and he looks nothing like the slug fans remember.
Jabba’s son is back, grown up, and somehow absolutely jacked.
Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) also provides the voice of Rotta the Hutt.
Rotta is a gladiator “fighting in the pits”
In The Mandalorian & Grogu, Rotta crosses paths with Din Djarin and Grogu, and he’s apparently a much different kind of Hutt than the ones audiences are used to.
Director Jon Favreau teases Rotta’s new vibe in the film, and it sounds like he’s been living a rough life.
“[Rotta’s] in top form, fighting in the pits, a gladiator of sorts,” Favreau says of where we’ll find him.
That lines up with the new image, which shows Rotta looking more like a brutal arena fighter than a lounging crime boss.
Yes, there’s some Huttese
White says the performance includes a little Huttese — the language fans first heard from Jabba in Return of the Jedi — but most of Rotta’s dialogue will be in Basic.
“There’s a little bit of Huttese,” White teases, though he says he’ll mostly be speaking Basic.
White also says he revisited Jabba’s scenes to help shape the performance.
“My speaking voice changes [as Rotta],” he adds. “It was helpful, of course, to listen to Jabba.”
Favreau compares Rotta to Creed
Favreau also hints Rotta’s story may be tied to living under Jabba’s shadow, comparing him to Adonis Creed from the Creed movies.
“When you’re trying to establish yourself and your name is famous, when you’re Jabba The Hutt’s kid, what does that do?” Favreau says. “How has that affected his trajectory? I get a kick out of that.”
If that’s the angle, Rotta might not just be muscle. He might be a character trying to prove himself in a galaxy that only sees him as Jabba’s kid.
The Mandalorian & Grogu hits May 22, 2026.
(source: empireonline)
