Mandalorian star Gina Carano’s character Cara Dune will remain on the show, Disney+ announced, two years after the star was fired following controversial social media posts.
In February 2021, the actress and former MMA fighter Carano, 40, was fired from the cast of The Mandalorian, following online outrage over a social media post that compared the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the political climate in the United States.
Despite her firing, Carano was present in the second season of the hit show, which aired from October to December 2020, and may return for more episodes in the third season, which premieres on March 1.
Executive producer and director Rick Famuyiwa said Deadline:’Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be a part of the world. She had to be approached in the creative and [Jon Favreau] he took the time to think about it.
“It was something that was discussed because we knew it was going to have an impact on the show, but at the same time, what’s been at the heart of the show is the two characters, Din Djarin and Grogu, so it ultimately felt like a service of that, and around the Mandalorian.’
Presence: Mandalorian star Gina Carano’s character Cara Dune will remain on the show, Disney+ announced, two years after the star was fired following controversial social media posts (pictured from series)
On whether Carano would be a part of the third season, Lucasfilm producer and creative director Dave Filoni said: “It’s a big galaxy and we have a lot of characters in it, a lot of characters are fighting for their screen time. We’ll just have to see as the season unfolds what the adventures are, but he’s a great character, someone who was vital to Din Djarin’s beginnings; We’ll see if he’s evolved beyond that.
Since breaking ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects that were not as successful as the Disney+ Star Wars series, and one film journalist described this fall as Gina ‘rummaging through the bag’.
In January, Carano lashed out at claims that she ruined her own career following her controversial social media posts.
Richard Newby wrote on Twitter: ‘I will never stop laughing at the fact that she could have had her own Star Wars series, toys, books, comics, clothes.
‘She was so close. He not only fumbled for her bag, but dropped it, pulled it over his head, and cut off the air supply.
Gina responded: ‘Here’s a @THR contributor repeatedly joining an online mob of mostly anonymous accounts harassing me.
You know we released Terror on the Prairie exclusively on @realDailyWire and you didn’t know? Or is ignorance and spreading hate their only purpose here?
In a thread, Gina added: “I didn’t fumble for the bag, I just didn’t follow the narrative of the sale, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to get me fired and they won.”
Removed: 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 comparing the murder of Jews during the Holocaust with the US political climate (pictured in 2019)
Carano’s post (right) compared the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the current political climate in the United States. Lucasfilm called the post ‘abhorrent and unacceptable’
‘Fumbled the bag’: Since breaking ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects that weren’t quite as successful as the Disney+ Star Wars series, with one film journalist describing this fall as Gina’s ‘fumbling’
Disagree: In one thread, Gina responded, “I didn’t fumble the bag, I just didn’t follow the narrative of selling, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they requested I be fired and I didn’t.”
I don’t regret that. I stood up for what I think was right and the more time passes, the better I feel.’
Another tweet from Gina read: ‘The real stock market problem is selling journalists like you who betrayed America and stopped asking questions to please a fickle manipulated mob.
That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.
A Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement at the time in early 2021 that Carano is not currently employed by the production company and “has no plans to be in the future.”
“However, your social media posts that denigrate people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,” the statement read.
Talent agency UTA also dropped Carano as a client following the controversy, according to Variety.
Carano came under heavy criticism after posting on Instagram Stories that “Jews were beaten up in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors… even by children.”
The post continued: ‘Because the story is edited, most people today don’t realize that in order to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made its their own neighbors would hate them simply for being Jews. How is that different from hating someone for their political views?
Carano, who played recurring character Cara Dune on the ‘Star Wars’ series, deleted the post, but it was shared widely online and caused the hashtag #FireGinaCarano to trend.
His 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 Force user with a Jedi Knight.
Dune, who in the second season is a lawman on a frontier planet, frequently teams up with the main character to fight an old enemy: the remnants of the evil Galactic Empire.
Cast: Carano is seen with the cast of The Mandalorian at the show’s 2019 premiere (center of photo)
Carano, a former mixed martial artist whose Dune character used a combination of heavy weapons and her fists to defeat her opponents, had come under fire online for her social media posts.
In some, he mocked mask-wearing during the pandemic and promoted allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, before the news of his firing was announced, Carano posted a photo to his Instagram Story that included the phrase “Jeff Epstein did not kill himself,” a reference to conspiracy theories that the pedophile billionaire was murdered.
He also mocked the use of gender pronouns, listing ‘beep/bop/boop’ in his social media bio after some expressed outrage that he didn’t include any pronouns in his bio.