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Here's how The Mandalorian season 3 addresses Gina Carano's absence

Carano’s character, Cara Dune, was written off the show after she shared several controversial social media posts.

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Published on March 1, 2023 05:40PM EST

The Mandalorian is officially back, and season 3 sees the return of familiar faces like Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin and Carl Weathers' Greef Karga. But there's one name who's notably missing from the season premiere: Gina Carano, who played mercenary-turned-marshal Cara Dune.

Carano appeared in the previous two seasons of The Mandalorian, often teaming up with Pascal's hero. But Lucasfilm distanced itself from the actress after she shared a series of controversial social media posts, eventually dropping her from the story.

The season premiere addresses her absence in a few lines of dialogue, as Din returns to the planet Nevarro to reunite with Greef Karga — who's now serving as the city's High Magistrate. Greef explains that after capturing Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) in the season 2 finale, Dune was recruited by Special Forces and has now taken a new role working for the New Republic. In other words, she's busy off screen and won't be crossing paths with Din any time soon.

In 2021, Carano sparked controversy after she shared a series of social media posts — including one in which she compared having different political opinions to being Jewish in Nazi Germany. She also mocked people who include pronouns in their social media bios, spread misinformation about the pandemic, and shared controversial posts about voter fraud.

Lucasfilm soon released a statement saying that it was severing ties with Carano, and her talent agency UTA also dropped her as a client.

"Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," a spokesperson for the company said at the time. "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."

Before the ugly parting, Carano had been set to star in her own Star Wars spinoff for Disney+, a planned show titled Rangers of the New Republic. That project has since been put on indefinite hold.

For more Mandalorian coverage, check out EW's Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch, where every week we'll be breaking down the new episodes and bringing you exclusive interviews with the cast and creators.

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Here's how The Mandalorian season 3 addresses Gina Carano's absence

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