Disney+’s new The Mandalorian remake seemingly won’t include a core character: Gina Carano’s Cara Dune. Following three seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney+, Lucasfilm made the shift earlier this year to transition the franchise to the big screen with The Mandalorian & Grogu. Now, in conjunction with The Mandalorian & Grogu coming to streaming, Disney+ is releasing a remake of the original three The Mandalorian seasons in LEGO form.
LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian is a comedic retelling of the Star Wars TV series, featuring iconic moments from all three seasons of the show, woven into one streaming special. However, Carano’s Cara Dune, a regular recurring character in Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian, has not appeared in the trailer or marketing for the LEGO remake and has seemingly been written out.
A press release for LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorianlists all the major characters and their voice actors, with some being actors from the live-action series reprising their roles and others being recasts. Gina Carano is absent from the list, as is Cara Dune, suggesting that not only will Carano not be featured in the series, but Disney+ also opted not to recast her character with a different actor, omitting Cara Dune entirely from the narrative.
Cara Dune was introduced as a former Rebel shock trooper-turned-mercenary who ends up assisting the Mandalorian with his many missions in Seasons 1 and 2. Dune and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) become two of Din Djarin’s main allies in The Mandalorian, but while Weathers’ character is still present in the LEGO remake with a new voice actor, Carano’s is completely missing.
The press release includes an extensive list of characters in LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian, including the likes of Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Zeb Orrelios, many of whom had far less screen time inThe Mandalorian than Cara Dune did. This points to Dune being removed completely from the story, as if she was present, even with a different actor, her larger role in The Mandalorian would presumably put her higher up the list than some of these cameo characters.
The move isn’t surprising given Carano’s clash with Lucasfilm. In 2022, Lucasfilm fired Carano from The Mandalorian and her planned Cara Dune spin-off series, Rangers of the New Republic,due to a series of her controversial online posts. Carano later claimed that Disney bullied her and lashed out against former Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy.
Rather than recasting Cara Dune, The Mandalorian Season 3 canonized Carano’s exit in-universe, explaining that Dune had left after she was recruited by special forces, leaving Karga in search of a new marshal, a role that was eventually filled by Taika Waititi’s reprogrammed droid, IG-88.
Cara Dune has previously been featured in LEGO Star Wars projects, most notably in the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga video game, where an in-game minifigure of her was available as a playable character. However, this game was released in 2022, before Carano’s firing.
LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian will be released on Disney+ on September 2, the same day that The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives on the platform. The voice cast of the LEGO series includes Gavin Hammon, Rosario Dawson, Amy Sedaris, Bill Burr, Giancarlo Esposito, and more.
Is Cara Dune’s Time in Star Wars Done?
While Carano’s Cara Dune was an integral part of The Mandalorian in its initial seasons, the decision to remove the character completely from the LEGO remake of the show seems to make it clear that Star Wars is done with the character.
Cara Dune was not only written out of The Mandalorian in Season 3, but she’s now been completely removed from the LEGO remake, with the special making it seem like Carano’s character never existed. She was also never mentioned in The Mandalorian & Grogu, which was to be expected, given that the film tried to avoid too many ties to the original series.
Given the Carano’s firing and the cancellation of Rangers of the New Republic, it seems like Lucasfilm might be completely done with both the actress and the character. However, Carano recently revealed she’d had conversations with The Mandalorian creators, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, and that they “didn’t miss a beat,” suggesting they might be open to her returning (Filoni has since taken over as Lucasfilm CEO from Kennedy).
It’s unclear what the future of The Mandalorian and the MandoVerse is afterThe Mandalorian & Grogu’s box office performance. Filoni was planning to crossover all the connected series, including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Star Wars Rebels, and what might once have included Rangers of the New Republicif it had gone ahead. Although the status of this crossover project remains unclear.
Filoni is now co-CEO at Lucasfilm, so his priorities are paramount, and if he sees room for Carano to return as Cara Dune, it could happen. However, it also depends on how willing Disney and Lucasfilm are to work with Carano again following her controversies, and if the character is being written out of a LEGO remake, it’s not the most positive sign.
