The Mandalorian Reworks Scrapped Star Wars Spinoff Rangers of the New Republic

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for The Mandalorian finale, "Chapter 24: The Return."] A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was developing a Mandalorian spin-off series titled Rangers of the New Republic. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced the new series alongside Ahsoka during Disney's Investor Day in 2020, revealing the interconnected shows set within the timeline of The Mandalorian would "culminate in a climactic story event." This month, that crossover came into focus with the announcement of director Dave Filoni's new Star Wars movie about the escalating war between the Imperial Remnant and the fledgling New Republic — which will culminate The Mandalorian saga of shows — and Wednesday's season 3 finale of Disney+'s flagship Star Wars series.

In The Mandalorian "Chapter 24: The Return," the Darksaber-wielding Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) successfully leads Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Mandalorian troops to retake their home world of Mandalore from Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and his army of beskar alloy-clad Dark Troopers. With the Mandalorian tribes unified under Bo-Katan on a resurgent Mandalore, Din and his newly-adopted son — Din Grogu, Mandalorian apprentice — return to the Outer Rim planet Nevarro.

Rangers of the New Republic

Five years after the Rebel victory that ended the Galactic Civil War in Return of the Jedi, the New Republic lacks the resources to protect independent planets like Nevarro. It's there that Adelphi Ranger Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) agrees to Din's offer to hire the bounty hunter as an independent contractor: Din will work for the New Republic on a case-by-case basis, helping the Rangers hunt down Imperial remnants. 

Din then accepts the deed to a cabin on the outskirts of town from High Magistrate Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and settles on the planet, now under the protection of the Mandalorian and the Marshall of Nevarro: a restored IG-11 (voiced by Taika Waititi).

It was a role meant for shock trooper-turned-Nevarro Marshal Cara Dune (Gina Carano), who last appeared in the season 2 finale "Chapter 16: The Rescue." When Din returned to Nevarro in the season 3 premiere, "Chapter 17: The Apostate," Karga tried to hire the bounty hunter as his new marshal and protect the planet from pirates. So what happened to Marshal Dune?

What Happened to Cara Dune on The Mandalorian?

Karga revealed that Dune was "recruited by Special Forces" after Gideon's arrest, explaining her absence. (In reality, Carano was written out of The Mandalorian over her controversial social media posts that Lucasfilm called "abhorrent and unacceptable" for "denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities." The company's statement added that Carano "is not currently employed by Lucasfilm, and there are no plans for her to be in the future.")

As for the Rangers of the New Republic series announced to be in the works from The Mandalorian series creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Filoni, Kennedy told Empire Magazine in November 2021 that no scripts had been written and that "some of [Rangers] will figure into future episodes, I'm sure, of Mandalorian." 

Rangers of the New Republic and The Mandalorian Season 4

Lucasfilm seemingly did fold plans for the scrapped Rangers of the New Republic into The Mandalorian seasons 3 and 4, as well as Filoni's upcoming untitled feature film centered on the New Republic era of the Mando timeline. Disney's Lucasfilm has yet to officially renew The Mandalorian for season 4, but Favreau has confirmed that he's already written the fourth season. And now we know it will follow Din — and his Mandalorian apprentice Din Grogu — across the galaxy as hired guns for the Rangers of the New Republic.

All episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian are now streaming on Disney+.