Gina Carano became one of the biggest names in Star Wars TV thanks to her debut in The Mandalorian Season 1, and she returned as Cara Dune in Season 2 despite growing controversy over her social media activity. Now, following a day of #FireGinaCarano trending on Twitter in reaction to new social posts, Lucasfilm has made a decision about Carano's future in the Star Wars franchise. Specifically, that she no longer has a future in the Star Wars franchise.
Lucasfilm confirmed that Gina Carano is no longer employed in a statement to Deadline, saying:
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.
The statement indicates that not only is Gina Carano out of The Mandalorian Season 3 and The Book of Boba Fett, but also Rangers of the New Republic and all the other current and upcoming Disney+ Star Wars shows, not to mention future movies and Lucasfilm projects not set in the galaxy far, far away. The company didn't address any of Carano's specific posts, but the message is clear that Carano is done at Lucasfilm, and therefore one of the biggest franchises in entertainment history.
The confirmation that Gina Carano is done playing Cara Dune comes after the controversy surrounding her social media activity hit an all-time high thanks to a Tik Tok post comparing the current political climate to Nazi Germany and an Instagram Story seemingly mocking people wearing masks for the pandemic protocol. Past posts also led to accusations of transphobia.
The Mandalorian ended Season 2 with Cara Dune still very much part of the action, as she was part of the climax that brought Luke Skywalker into the fold when he arrived to take custody of Baby Yoda, and Rangers of the New Republic seemed like it could have been set up to showcase Cara despite Gina Carano's divisive posts on social media. Cara's role in Star Wars seemed primed to continue even as Carano's very public previous comments caused a stir, but there evidently was a limit to how far she could go before Lucasfilm cut ties.
Back in January, Gina Carano actually addressed the backlash surrounding some of her social media activity, and her comments to Drunk 3PO made it clear that she wasn't planning on stopping her posts:
I’m going to stick around and if my presence bothers you, OK, but also a lot of people are not bothered by my Twitter presence or my social media presence. So I focus more on those people. I bring the fire out in people. I’m not sure why.
At the time of writing, Gina Carano has not commented on Lucasfilm announcing that she is no longer employed on either her Twitter or Instagram account. Both "Gina Carano" and "Cara Dune" are currently trending on Twitter, however. Her ousting does raise the question of how Cara Dune's future in Star Wars will be handled. The Book of Boba Fett spinoff coming before The Mandalorian Season 3 would make it easy enough to write Cara out off-screen with a time jump, but Star Wars could also recast the character.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest developments in Star Wars TV and movie news, and be sure to check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule for some further upcoming viewing options.
