Disney Confirms Gina Carano Will Not Be Returning to Star Wars
Lucasfilm has confirmed that they will no longer be working With Gina Carano, calling her comments “abhorrent and unacceptable.”
For the last two seasons Gina Carano has portrayed Cara Dune on The Mandalorian, but it seems that her time in the galaxy far far away has finally come to an end. Her departure from the franchise was confirmed last night when io9 released the following statement they had obtained from a Lucasfilm spokesperson:
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
Carano’s relationship with Star Wars fans has been rocky these past few months with many criticizing her posts to social media. These posts have ranged from transphobia and mocking the use of pronouns to repeating conspiracy theories that had been disproven time and time regarding the 2020 US election, to anti-mask memes. Many, including Mandalorian costar Pedro Pascal, attempted to point out the hurtful nature of her mockery of the trans community, but she seemed to dig her heels in all the harder. Her latest invitation for infamy came soon after she posted an anti-semitic post to her Instagram story. It soon gained attention prompting her to delete it, but many had captured and shared screenshots. The resulting hashtag, “FireGinaCarano,” trended on Twitter for the better part of the day followed by the announcement that she would not be returning to Star Wars.
In addition to her involvement in the critically acclaimed and fan favorite Disney+ show, The Mandalorian, there were whispers that Lucasfilm planned to announce a series staring Carano in December but scrapped those plans in November due to her actions. Many fans anticipated this starring role may have happened in the upcoming Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic, leaving us to wonder what the future of her character and this new show will look like.
Will Cara Dune’s sudden off-screen death be mentioned in passing in the season three premiere of The Mandalorian? Will Disney instead pull a War Machine and quietly recast Cara Dune with another actress and a one-line hand wave of explanation? Will she simply be conveniently off-planet for any potential live action TV or movie appearances but appear in future comics, novels, or animation? After all, Carano aside, Cara Dune is a well-loved and fascinating character and it could be seen as wasted potential to simply kill her off. Unfortunately, we just don’t know yet and we will likely have to wait at least a little while for any official confirmation from Lucasfilm or Disney for their intentions regarding the future of Carano’s character.
How would you like to see the future or possible departure of Cara Dune from the Star Wars handled? Who do you think Rangers of the New Republic will be about, focus on, and star? Let us know in the comments.
May The Force Be With You, Adventurers.
