Star Wars' next movie, , is bringing back a key character linked to Jabba the Hutt, and it's going to give one of Star Wars' grossest antagonists a truly shocking legacy. The Mandalorian and Grogu is arguably the most exciting of Star Wars' upcoming movies, even with additions like Star Wars: Starfighter getting plenty of interest as well. The movie will be a continuation of one of Star Wars' best TV shows, The Mandalorian, and it will also be the very first movie to be a TV show spin-off in the franchise.

Of course, The Mandalorian and Grogu will also see the return of some of Star Wars' best characters to the screen, titular characters Din Djarin and Grogu among them, and some of the reveals at Star Wars Celebration 2025 even indicated what elements of the story may include. Among those revelations was the fact that Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta the Hutt, will be making a Star Wars return following Star Wars: The Clone Wars. .

The Mandalorian and Grogu footage description from Star Wars Celebration 2025 confirmed that . Unsurprisingly, given how Star Wars often operates when it comes to upcoming shows or movies, the details of Rotta's involvement remain tightly under wraps. It's unlikely we will get all that much information about his story before the movie releases, even with just under a year to go before the premiere. Yet, some surprising details have been revealed so far.

Among those details we do know is that, , and he was seen looking triumphant, possibly in an arena of some kind. Director of The Mandalorian and Grogu Jon Favreau spoke about Rotta the Hutt's return (and his muscular appearance), explaining:

"I think it was important for us to have an image, because everybody...We definitely draw inspiration from Extended Universe and the Hutts are just an interesting group.... And they were explored slightly in the, you know, through Jabba and what we saw when we were growing up. But then with Filoni, with animation, they really delved into it. And then, of course, all the accompanying materials, like the comics, like Grakkus – that was, I think, his name, Grakkus? – was a cool, one of the Hutts that was really strong. So, there's all different types and in animation too. So there's a lot of imagery that's been explored. And now with technology, it's fun to explore what you can do with species that you could never show. Look how difficult it was in the original trilogy with how many puppeteers it took and to build that. And then, also when they started exploring with CG, with the special edition, and then later on, and we did with Book of Boba Fett, with the twins. So, I think it's a lot of fun. Plus, for the big screen, you don't have anything bigger than a Hutt."

It still isn't clear what Rotta's story arc will entail in The Mandalorian and Grogu, but, as Favreau explained, .

It's unlikely that many were advocating for better Hutt representation in Star Wars in light of how foul Jabba proved to be in the original trilogy, but both Rotta's appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu and Favreau's comments suggest. This has occurred in a number of ways over the years, most notably with groups like the Twi'leks, the Tusken Raiders, and even the Wookiees. In all three cases, these changes have been for the better.

For the Twi'leks in particular, this has been a heavily gendered issue, with the race primarily being shown in the context of exotic dancers, such as Oola in Return of the Jedi. That trend of hyper-sexualized Twi'leks continued even in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which introduced Aayla Secura as a Twi'lek Jedi. Thankfully, the introduction of Hera Syndulla and the nature of her story arc in Star Wars Rebels finally undid some of that damage by removing this stereotype.

Similarly, in both A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Tatooine's Tusken Raiders were treated as sub-human, evil creatures with little to no depth. Since then, shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have treated them with so much more humanity and fleshed them out considerably. Even Wookiees were originally treated as a monolith, with George Lucas insisting Wookiees couldn't be Jedi. That, too, has changed over the years. Now .

In addition to the interesting revelation that Rotta the Hutt will cast Hutts in a new, perhaps even heroic light, . As is well-known in this franchise, Leia was the one to finally take Jabba the Hutt down after having been enslaved by him. To Leia, Jabba was nothing but a horrible, gross, and creepy villain—and she wasn't wrong. Could the knowledge that Jabba had a son have changed that view at all?

The most likely answer is no. Leia was terrorized by Jabba, and it's unlikely anything could have skewed that perception she had. It also realistically shouldn't. Even in The Clone Wars, which showed Rotta as a baby and Jabba's desperation to get him back, Jabba wasn't any more sympathetic than he'd ever been. Still, I'm beyond curious to see Rotta the Hutt in and find out what this may mean for Jabba the Hutt's legacy.