It’s exactly what you’d expect. Grogu makes faces. Mando broods. Some space stuff happens in between. Hearts get melted by cute interactions with those feisty Anzellans. It is fine, in a generic way. But don’t bother looking for major plot progression for our two main heroes. This movie doesn’t really move their arc forward. It just shuffles them around.
But wait.
There is something else happening. Something much better. We have an origin story here. A genuine one. And it belongs to Rotta the Hutt.
Played by Jeremy Allen White, Rotta is… distinct. Look at him. While other Hutts are usually lousy, greasy lumps of regret, this guy is shredded. Beefy. The internet naturally went sideways when those first pics dropped. The Cut asked the only question that mattered: Is Jabba’s son actually hot? We aren’t here to judge your taste in oversized, muscular slugs.
He’s not new, exactly. But he’s different now.
We’ve seen Rotta before. He was a baby in The Clone Wars. They called him “Stinky.” Given the living conditions in Hutta, the name stuck. Accurate. Now though? Now he’s a post-Empire gladiator. He’s not just beating aliens up for giggles. He’s fighting to buy his freedom from a guy named Janu. Who is terrible. Naturally.
Enter Mando and Grogu. Working for the New Republic again. Doing that thing they always do. Cutting shady deals. This one is with the Hutt Twins. Two-faced, low-down scum. The deal? Mando finds Rotta. The Twins give up intel on some random Imperial warlord. You know who it is already. We all know who it is. Why cut the deal? Nobody knows.
It’s a non-story wrapper for the real point. Mando talks to Rotta. Discovers the truth. He isn’t like his father. Not even a little. He’s kind to Grogu. Offers him food. Because food matters. More than Jedi teachings.
Rotta wants out. Of crime. Of his family name. He sees the Twins are liars. Shocking.
Eventually, Rotta and Mando team up. Take down the bad guys. Rotta pledges loyalty to the Republic. Rewrites his destiny. The score swells. Lightsabers raise. Standard procedure.
But look closer. Hutts are traditionally villains. Greedy. Trustworthy as a leaky pipe. Slavers. Rotta rejects all that. He could slither right into the family business. Easy choice. He picks the hard path.
Doesn’t this feel familiar?
It’s basically Luke Skywalker’s plot, but with more slime. Luke discovers his dad did horrible things. Order 66. Killed kids. Don’t try to rationalize Vader here. Rotta knows his father is evil too. The temptation? Power. Join the team. Repeat the cycle. Rotta says no.
But Rotta had it worse. Luke had Leia. Han. Obi-Wan. A support network. Rotta had nobody. Just other lowlife Hutts. And the world judging him for what he is, not what he chooses to be. He’s isolated. Lonely. Slithering through prejudice with integrity. And empathy. That’s a tough mix for a slug.
There is sadness there, too. Watching Mando and Grogu. Rotta tells the kid to appreciate his dad. It stings. Star Wars is all daddy issues. Always has been. Always will be.
This makes Rotta infinitely more interesting than Din Djarin’s current trajectory. We live in an age where every character needs trauma. Shadows. Edge. Rotta refuses. He’s honorable. Heroic. Basically a slug-version of Captain America. A breath of air in a universe tired of its own brooding protagonists.
You leave the movie curious about him. Really curious. He has a chance to rewrite Hutt history. Prove that past doesn’t define you. The franchise loves a second chance. This could be it. A new hope. For the slimy people.
Or.
Maybe we just want to see those arms again. Who needs a laser sword when you have built-in cannons?
Give us the Rotta trilogy. You’re too scared not to. 🍑💪
