The Mandalorian fans seem to really want Lucy Lawless to take over on the Cara Dune role. It was recently announced that Lucasfilm and Disney have parted ways with Gina Carano amid her latest social media controversy. "Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," a Lucasfilm spokesperson said in a statement. The Lucasfilm statement went on to say that Carano's "social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."
The firing news came late yesterday afternoon, and a lot The Mandalorian fans are already fancasting the role of Cara Dune. Gina Carano brought the tough female character to life on the small screen and it was believed that she was going to lead the upcoming Rangers of the New Republic spin-off, which is currently in development, in addition to appearing in season 3 of The Mandalorian. Now that Carano is officially out, a lot of fans are calling on Lucasfilm to move forward with Lucy Lawless.
Lucy Lawless is probably best-known for her title role in Xena: Warrior Princess, though she has had many high profile roles since then. Her background as an onscreen badass has a lot of The Mandalorian fans thinking she's the perfect candidate to play Cara Dune in future seasons. One fan simply said, "Can we just swap out Gina Carano for Lucy Lawless and never address it the way Marvel did with Howard and Cheadle?" The reference is to Don Cheadle taking over Terrence Howard's role as Colonel James Rhodes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Another fan decided to appeal to Lucasfilm's wallet by stating, "Hear me out, Casting Lucy Lawless as Cara Dune would sell SOOO many action figures. I'm just saying. She'd bring in a lot of bank."
Another fan of The Mandalorian said, "I keep hearing people saying they want Lucy Lawless to play Cara Dune going forward but I don't think that's a good idea because my fanboy heart might explode with joy." The Star Wars universe is greatly expanding, thanks to the success of the Disney+ show, which Gina Carano helped with her performance as Dune. While the majority want Lucy Lawless on board, there are still fans sticking up for the Carano, who has yet to directly respond to her firing.
As of this writing, Lucasfilm has yet to reveal if the Cara Dune character will be included in future Star Wars projects. If the character is still going to be the driving force behind Rangers of the New Republic, the studio will certainly have to go through the recasting process, and fans have shown a great interest in Lucy Lawless taking over as Cara Dune. Will the studio listen, or will they end up bringing Gina Carano back on board after a few months? The Hollywood Reporter was one of the first outlets to announce that Carano had been fired.