UPDATE: THR has amended its original story after a source from Lucasfilm confirmed there are no plans to recast the role of Cara Dune.
A new report suggests that the role of Cara Dune, which was originally played by Gina Carano on The Mandalorian, will be recast for the upcoming season of the Disney+ series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to find a new actor to play the character is both for "story and merchandising reasons." The Season 2 finale left Dune on Moff Gideon's ship with the titular bounty hunter after Luke Skywalker took Baby Yoda to be trained as a Jedi Knight.
Carano was fired after posting an Instagram story comparing the treatment of modern-day conservatives to the experiences of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. In her post, she noted how fascist influence made it easier for Nazis to persecute Jews by first making the rest of the world hate them. She ended the post by asking, "How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?" The post led to the hashtags #FireGinaCarano and #CancelDisneyPlus to trend on Twitter.
"Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," a spokesperson for Lucasfilm said at the time of her firing. "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."
This is not the first time Carano's social media posts sparked controversy. She listed "beep/bop/boop" in her Twitter bio in lieu of pronouns, which was viewed as a mockery of the transgender community. She also discouraged mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic and questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Carano claimed that she has not been in contact with Lucasfilm since she refused to issue an apology written by the studio for her "beep/bop/boop" comments. She was not allowed to do press for the series' second season and found out she had been fired through social media.
Disney had plans to give Carano her own Star Wars spinoff show. However, her social media posts made the company disregard that idea. "[Disney] have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and [this] was the final straw," a source with information regarding the situation said. Some were speculating that Carano would play a role in the upcoming Rangers of the New Republic TV series, which was announced at the 2020 Disney Investor Day.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Season 3 has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter