“The eye tattoo has a much deeper meaning once we get into it,” Gina Carano told press in 2019 about exploring her ‘Mandalorian’ character Cara Dune’s Rebel Shocktrooper backstory in a deeper way. “Obviously, it’s a Rebel tattoo, but there’s much more to that story. So, I’m excited [to tell] that.” And obviously, given Carano has been fired from Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” series, and all other future Lucasfilm projects, she won’t be able to tell it. But that wasn’t always the case, apparently.
‘The Mandalorian’: Gina Carano Fired From Lucasfilm Series Amid Anti-Semitic Social Media Remarks
Amidst all the various reports about Carano’s firing tonight—stemming from anti-Semitic posts on Tik Tok she posted this morning (since deleted) where she compared the persecution of Jews to the supposed intolerance towards her conservative values—THR reporter Aaron Couch has some great backstory context on her dismissal which was apparently a (relatively) long time coming.
For one, it seems like the rumors of a Cara Dune spin-off show were real. Last year, rumors floated that Carano would feature in a spin-off show that may have also co-starred Katie Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze character.
“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,” Couch wrote.
This tracks. In December, Lucasfilm revealed a massive slate of ten new series, one of them called, “The Rangers of The New Republic,” and thought to possibly involve Carano’s Dune character. But it wasn’t until actress Sophie Thatcher was revealed to be part of the “Star Wars” universe (it’s still unclear which show though), in early November, following some of Carano’s more contentious social posts about election fraud, were the existence and rumors of the possible Dune/Bo-Katan show ever debunked (Deadline mentioned that here).
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So, it’s extra crazy to think Lucasfilm may have suggested to Carano—because the company is secretive and may not have unveiled their full plans to her—she would be getting her own show, and she continued to persist with her controversial social posts, which were transphobic, conspiracy theory-centric, voter-fraud-lie enabling and generally resembling that of someone who may believe in wild Qanon theories.
Certainly, it was either a failure on management’s part to warn her, or just the inability to contain her. What’s worse. Couch says, a source tells him, “They have been looking for a reason to fire her for two months, and today was the final straw.”
As filmmaker BenDavid Grabinski said tonight, putting a fine point on it, “all Gina Carano had to do was shut the f*ck up.” Some people just want to learn the hard way, I guess. As for Carano’s Cara Dune character? While she was a fan favorite, ‘The Mandalorian’ season two ended in such a way, it’ll likely be straightforward for Lucasfilm to quietly write her out of future stories rather than attempt something like a recast.
Meanwhile, the hits keep coming. UTA talent agency has dropped Carano, and, in accordance with the rules of backlash-y social media and anti-cancel culture culture, #CanceDisneyPlus is trending in response to Carano’s firing.