It's no secret that Disney's vision for the future of the Star Wars franchise is on TV, as the company recently revealed an entire slate of Disney+ original properties. The studio has seen great success in the last few years with the first two seasons of The Mandalorian . So it's no surprise the company would choose to hone in on that angle more.
A breakout star from The Mandalorian has been Gina Carano's Cara Dune, with the character having played a significant role in both seasons one and two. In the series' latest installments, Dune rose the mercenary to Marshall of the New Republic.
Dune's role in the New Republic has offered a look at that order — which succeeded the Empire — in a way that has never been seen before. This is something that led many to crave more from the era, leading to the announcement of the Rangers of the New Republic series on Disney+ — a show which many speculated Carano would have starred in following a series of rumors.
However, following a series of controversial tweets from the actress — in which she has been accused of “inferring that being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust” — she has been terminated from her role in the franchise.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Following the initial report from io9 on Carano's departure, The Hollywood Reporter has shared further details on Lucasfilm's original plans for the character.
According to The Hollywood Reporter's Aaron Couch, Lucasfilm was originally intending to announce Carano as the lead character of her own show during their mid-December Disney Investor Day presentation. However, due to the controversial tweets shared by the actress in November, those plans were scrubbed.
The report speculates the recently announced Rangers of the New Republic series “could have potentially starred Carano, though that was not ever officially confirmed.”
According to sources, Lucasfilm planned to unveil Gina Carano as the star of her own show during December’s investors day. They scrubbed those plans after erratic tweets in November https://t.co/GSZkoHqXal
IS THE SPIN-OFF CANCELED OR PIVOTING?
This news raises a lot of questions, assuming Carano was intended to star in the series, where do they go with it now? As the project was a major part of the studio's line-up of shows set in The Mandalorian era which would go on to interconnect, where do they go with it now?
Unlike some incidents of the 'cancel culture' era, it's unlikely Carano will ever return to her role. While most similar incidents of these firings result from old tweets dug up from years gone, Carano's comments were incredibly recent and ongoing during her involvement with Disney.
If the studio intends to persist with their current course, the obvious option is to recast the role with another actress. However, the studio could choose to pivot the direction of the show to shift the focus onto a different character within the era.
The next installment in the Star Wars Disney+ lineup will arrive in December with The Book of Boba Fett starring Termuera Morrison.
