Star Wars: The Mandalorian Producers Reveal How Season 3 Handles Gina Carano's Cara Dune Firing

We're just days away from the return of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, with Season 3 set to usher in a new era of the beloved Disney+ series. In the time since Season 2 wrapped, there have been some unique developments — including the February 2021 firing of Gina Carano, who appeared on the series as Cara Dune, after a string of controversial statements. In a recent interview with Deadline, The Mandalorian executive producers Rick Famuyiwa and Dave Filoni addressed how Carano's departure will — or won't — be addressed in Season 3.

"Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be part of the world," Famuyiwa revealed. "It had to be addressed in the creative and Jon (Favreau) took the time to think about that. It was something that was discussed as we knew it was going to have impact on the show, but at the same time, what has been at the heart of the show are the two characters – Din Djarin and Grogu- so ultimately it felt like a servicing of that, and around the Mandalorians."

"It's a big galaxy and we have many characters in it," Filoni echoed. "Many characters are fighting for their screen time, we'll just have to see as the season unfolds what the adventures are, but it's a great character, someone who was vital to Din Djarin's beginnings; we'll see if he has evolved beyond that. Now season 3 is mainly dealing with Mandalorians and the Mandalorian saga, the Mandalorian tale. (There's) different characters he's met since Bo-Katan, (who) take a lot more prominence which makes sense where his arc is going, the story of him and Grogu specifically."

In the aftermath of Carano's firing, there were calls from some fans for the role of Cara Dune to be recast — something that comments from Filoni seemed to echo. 

"It's a great character," Filoni added. "I get requests across the board for all types of characters. I've been with Star Wars, it's coming on 20 years. It's a great galaxy. The hardest thing is finding time and space for everyone out there. George (Lucas) use to talk about when he was making the prequels, he had so many great characters and they all wanted to screen time. How do you do it when your job is to tell the story of Anakin Skywalker? I relate to that."

Star Wars: The Mandalorian will premiere on March 1st exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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