Diego Luna Denies Doing Rogue One Prequel Show In Hope Of Touching Jabba’s Skin

After the success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one needn’t think too hard about why Diego Luna would say yes to reprising his role as Cassian Andor for a Star Wars TV series. But in light of some viral comments made by the star a couple of years ago, there’s been some speculation – albeit of the tongue-in-cheek variety – that the actor had an unusual motivation to return to this space saga.

Specifically, Luna mentioned on the Rogue One press tour that the texture of Jabba the Hutt’s skin was something that he simply needed to discover, and with Cassian now getting a whole series’ worth of espionage adventures, there’s a chance that he’ll finally have an excuse meet the slimey crime lord. In an interview with Collider, however, the star insisted that this alleged life goal had nothing to do with his decision to accept this job:

“No, no, no. I guess my life will change the day I get to find out what the texture of Jabba’s skin [is like.] [laughs] One thing you say on one day in the middle of 150 interviews suddenly haunts you for the rest of your life. It’s incredible the amount of shit I get for that, I love it. I love it … but I still want to touch Jabba the Hutt.”

Though there’s been an ongoing rumor that Jabba’s son Rotta is set to feature in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, it’s been many years now since we’ve seen any sort of live-action Hutt on our screens. With that in mind, perhaps the giant slug is due for a comeback, and with Cassian’s show taking place before the events of Rogue One, this could be the right time and place for it, even if there’s no evidence yet to back up the idea.

As it stands, there’s still much to learn about Cassian’s series, and from the sound of things, Luna isn’t particularly clued in himself, telling Collider that he doesn’t know when shooting will begin:

“That I don’t know. I know as much as you know. That thing they sent to the press? I got that the day before.”

It seems that this Rogue One: A Star Wars Story spinoff is still a long wait away, but in the meantime, at least its Disney Plus companion The Mandalorian looks a little further down the path to completion.