RIP Watto. The prequels character was killed off in a new Star Wars comic, and the internet is in mourning.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #2 reveals that Darth Vader returned to Tattooine to kill Watto, per editor Mark Paniccia, who shared a sneak peek on Twitter. “Vader must have returned here,” one of the panels reads. “Taken his revenge.”
Vader and Watto share a past: Watto owned Anakin Skywalker and his mother Shmi as slaves when he was a kid after winning them in a podracing bet with Gardulla the Hutt. However, during the events of The Phantom Menace, Anakin wins his freedom in another podrace when Qui-Gon Jinn bets against Watto, and he subsequently leaves Tattooine to train to be a Jedi.
Watto, who is a Toydarian, owns a secondhand goods store, and is immune to “Jedi mind tricks”, makes another, final appearance in Attack of the Clones, when Anakin goes back to Tattooine to look for his mother.
Although his screen time is limited, the internet has latched onto Watto’s death and is eking every last bit of mileage out of his demise. You can see some of the tweets about him below.
My parents died when a pod racer crashed into the crowd after its gravity stabilizer malfunctioned. It was from Watto’s junkyard. Shortly after, I started getting anonymous checks. They kept me housed and paid my way through college. Years later I found out they came from Watto https://t.co/wMTAQAD6hFJanuary 26, 2025
Seeing the wookiepedia article for Watto change to “Was ” pic.twitter.com/mE3aRlp8bVJanuary 25, 2025
Dave Chappelle (suddenly getting serious 50 minutes into a special): On January 24, 2025, Watto, a small business owner on Tatooine, my friend, died. He fucking diedJanuary 24, 2025
Next up on the big screen from the galaxy far, far away is The Mandalorian & Grogu, which will see Jeremy Allen White and (reportedly) Sigourney Weaver join the sci-fi franchise.
The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives in theaters on May 22, 2026. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other new Star Wars movies and shows on the way.