Fans of Star Wars: The Mandalorian are calling for Lucy Lawless to replace Gina Carano as bounty hunter Carasynthia (Cara) Dune after news broke that Carano had been fired from the Disney+ series on Feb. 10.Xena: Warrior Princess star Lawless quickly became a fan front-runner for stepping into the role for Season 3 of The Mandalorian after Dungeons & Dragons podcasters @SeveredSonsDnD tweeted a side-by-side photo of Lawless-as-Xena and Lawless' current head shot in response to the trending hashtag #CancelDisneyPlus. They wrote in the caption, "Instead of #canceldisneyplus, can they just cast Lucy Lawless as Cara Dune and pretend it was her the whole time?"
In addition to Lawless, fans also got behind the idea of replacing Carano with actress Lana Parrilla, who is best known for her portrayal of the Evil Queen/Regina Mills in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time.
Lucasfilm decided to part ways with Carano following a series of controversial social media posts shared by the 38-year-old actor over the past few months. The latest post from Carano, an outspoken conservative, appeared to find her comparing the treatment of modern-day Republicans to the suffering experienced by Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Specifically, Carano shared a post on her Instagram story that detailed how fascist influence in Europe made it easier for Nazis to persecute Jews by first convincing the rest of the world that Jews were the enemy. The post ended by asking the question, "How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?"
Lucasfilm confirmed Carano's departure from the project to Deadline, saying in a statement, "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 was also dropped by her agency, UTA.
A source close to the situation also confirmed that the rumored Mandalorian spinoff series that was supposed to center on Cara Dune was removed from the schedule after Carano first sparked controversy in November 2020. At the time, Carano suggested in her posts the possibility of voter fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Season 3 has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: Twitter