Mandalorian star Gina Carano’s character Cara Dune will remain in the show, Disney+ have announced, two years after the star was sacked following controversial social media posts.
Back in February 2021, actress and former MMA fighter Carano, 40, was fired from the cast of The Mandalorian, following online outrage over a social media post that likened the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the US political climate.
Despite her sacking Carano was a presence in season two of the hit show – which aired from October-December 2020 – and she may return for further episodes in season three, which debuts on March 1.
Executive producer and director Rick Famuyiwa told Deadline: ‘Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be part of the world. It had to be addressed in the creative and [Jon Favreau] took the time to think about that.
‘It was something that was discussed as we knew it was going to have impact on the show, but at the same time, what has been at the heart of the show are the two characters — Din Djarin and Grogu — so ultimately it felt like a servicing of that, and around the Mandalorian.’
Presence: Mandalorian star Gina Carano’s character Cara Dune will remain in the show, Disney+ have announced, two years after the star was sacked following controversial social media posts (pictured in the series)
On whether Carano would be a part of season three, producer and Lucasfilm creative director Dave Filoni said: ‘It’s a big galaxy and we have many characters in it — many characters are fighting for their screen time. We’ll just have to see as the season unfolds what the adventures are, but it’s a great character, someone who was vital to Din Djarin’s beginnings; we’ll see if he has evolved beyond that.
Since severing ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects which not as much success as the Disney+ Star Wars series, and a film journalist described this downfall as Gina ‘fumbling the bag’.
Back in January Carano hit out at claims she ruined her own career following her controversial social media posts.
Richard Newby wrote on Twitter: ‘ll never stop laughing at the fact that she could’ve had her own Star Wars series, toys, books, comics, apparel.
‘She was that close. She didn’t just fumble the bag, she dumped it out, put it over her head and cut off her air supply.’
Gina snapped back: ‘Here is a contributor of @THR who repeatedly joins in an online mob of mostly anonymous accounts harassing me.
‘Are you aware that we released Terror on the Prairie exclusively on the @realDailyWire & you didn’t know that? Or are ignorance & spreading hate your only purpose here?’
In a thread, Gina added: ‘I didn’t fumble the bag I just didn’t go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won.
Axed: Back in February 2021, actress and former MMA fighter Carano, 40, was fired from the cast of The Mandalorian , following online outrage over a social media post that likened the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the US political climate (pictured 2019)
Carano’s post (right) likened the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the current U.S. political climate. Lucasfilm called the post ‘abhorrent and unacceptable’
‘Fumbled the bag’: Since severing ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects which not as much success as the Disney+ Star Wars series, and a film journalist described this downfall as Gina ‘fumbling the bag’
Disagree: In a thread, Gina replied: ‘I didn’t fumble the bag I just didn’t go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won’
‘I’m not sorry for that. I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was & the more time that goes by the better I feel.’
Another tweet from Gina read: ‘The genuine bag fumble is sell out journalists like you who sold out America and stopped asking questions to be liked by a fickle manipulated mob.
‘That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.’
A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said in a statement at the time in early 2021 that Carano is not currently employed by the production company with ‘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 read.
Talent agency UTA has also dropped Carano as a client following the controversy, according to Variety.
Carano fell under heavy criticism after she posted on Instagram Stories that ‘Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…. even by children.’
The post continued: ‘Because history is edited, most people today don´t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?’
Carano, who played the recurring character Cara Dune on the ‘Star Wars’ series, deleted the post but it was widely shared online and spurred the #FireGinaCarano hashtag to trend.
Her character appeared in several episodes of the second season of ‘The Mandalorian,’ a series about a bounty hunter and his quest to unite a powerful, young user of the Force with a Jedi Knight.
Dune, who in the second season is a lawperson on a frontier planet, frequently teams up with the title character to fight an old nemesis: remnants of the evil Galactic Empire.
Cast: Carano is seen with cast of The Mandalorian at the show’s 2019 premiere (pictured centre)
Carano, a former mixed martial artist whose Dune character used a mix of heavy weapons and her fists to best opponents, had been criticized online for social media posts.
In some, she mocked mask wearing during the pandemic and promoted claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday- before news of her termination was announced – Carano posted a picture to her Instagram story that included the phrase ‘Jeff Epstein didn’t kill himself’ – a reference to conspiracy theories that the pedophile billionaire was murdered.
She also mocked the use of gender pronouns, listing ‘beep/bop/boop’ in her social media bio after some expressed outrage that she did not list any pronouns in her bio.
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