Although there are many upcoming Star Wars movies in various stages of development, only one of them has a release date locked down. The Mandalorian & Grogu is due out in May 2026, with filming having concluded just days ago. Word has now come in that The Bear star Jeremy Allen White is reportedly joining the cast of The Mandalorian spinoff movie, but I’m honestly shocked to learn about the character he’s allegedly playing in the first cinematic follow-up to The Rise of Skywalker.
Originally reported on The InSneider and confirmed by outlets like Deadline, it’s being said that White will voice Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt. Rotta was previously shown in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and in an episode of the follow-up The Clone Wars TV series, where he was vocalized by David Acord. Assuming White’s casting is legit, he’s the second new actor to board The Mandalorian & Grogu, Sigourney Weaver being the first, although we don’t know who she’s playing.
On the one hand, hearing Jeremy Allen White will be joining the Star Wars franchise is great to hear, especially considering this news comes just hours after he was nominated for another Golden Globe for his performance as Carmy Berzatto in The Bear, which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription. On the other hand… what? Bringing White aboard The Mandalorian & Grogu to voice a Hutt? That just sounds bizarre to me, as one of those slug-like creatures is not what would have immediately come to mind when thinking about a role White could play in a galaxy far, far away.
I would have thought White would be cast in a role that would see him physically performing on camera, whether as a human or a different type of alien. Still, other actors of his ilk have voiced Star Wars roles across movies and television, including Lupita Nyong’o, Elijah Wood, David Tennant, Matt Berry, Bryce Dallas Howard and Lucy Liu, to name a few. Deadline’s article also noted this White will portray Rotta for a “notably sized role,” not just a cameo.
No plot details for The Mandalorian & Grogu have been revealed yet, but Pedro Pascal will be reprising Din Djarin, and the Star Wars Rebels character Zen Orrelios is also expected to appear. At this point in the Star Wars timeline, Rotta the Hutt is somewhere in his early-to-mid 30s, and it’s been a little more than half a decade since his father was killed by Princess Leia Organa on Tatooine. Whether or not Rotta followed in Jabba’s criminal footsteps remains to be seen, but something tells me we’ll hear White’s version of the character speaking Basic, i.e. English, rather than Huttese.
The Mandalorian & Grogu opens in theaters on May 22, 2026. While we wait for more news on what it holds in store for fans, use your Disney+ subscription to view all the Star Wars movies in order, as well as The Mandalorian and the franchise’s other TV shows.
