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Credit: Gina Carano InstagramIf you’ve been following the Gina Carano saga since The Mandalorian Season 2 aired in 2020, you undoubtedly already know that the former women’s MMA and Muay Thai fighter has faced more than her share of online controversy thanks to a series of Tweets regarding political and social justice topics.
Related: Disney Is Back In Cahoots With ‘Mandalorian’ Star Gina Carano
Carano played New Republic Marshal Cara Dune on Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s hit Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, prior to being fired in February 2021.
Ahead of her firing, hashtags like #FireGinaCarano, #WeLoveCaraDune, and #IStandWithGinaCarano alternately trended on social media. In addition to those who oppose her views, the Deadpool actress has staunch supporters who would love to see her return to the Star Wars franchise in the future.
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However, Carano has been vocal about her distaste for Disney and Lucasfilm, publicly stating that she was “bullied” by the powers-that-be and sharing that her new project, Western movie Terror on the Prairie with Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire, will “take down the Death Star”.
And, despite support from Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, Pedro Pascal (Din Djarin), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), and Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), it seems that the rumors of Carano’s eventual return in The Mandalorian Season 4 are unlikely to actually come to fruition.
Related: “I Hear You”: Filoni Responds to Fans’ Call to Save ‘Clone Wars’
Now, in fact, a new rumor suggests that Lucasfilm has already “replaced” Carano’s Cara Dune with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, who will debut in Rosario Dawson’s Mandalorian spinoff series, Ahsoka.
Winstead — the real-life girlfriend of Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor — will, according to the report, serve as a “pseudo-replacement for Carano in the Mando-Verse.”
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Per the report, it “isn’t clear how exactly Mary Elizabeth Winstead will replace Gina Carano in this sense, it is sure looking like her character’s story will eventually dovetail or at least intersect with Mando’s either this season or next.”
Rosario Dawson made her live-action debut as Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian Season 2 (“Chapter 13: The Jedi”). Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan teamed-up with an unlikely ally, Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to defeat Corvus Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto).
Related: Did ‘The Mandalorian’ Just Save Grogu From Kylo Ren?
In the words of Pascal’s Djarin, “A Mandalorian and a Jedi, they’ll never see it coming” — and they didn’t. The fan-favorite Togruta character successfully defeated Elsbeth, but not before learning that Star Wars Rebels villain Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) was behind all of the Magistrate’s ministrations on Corvus.
Ahsoka reappeared in Dave Filoni’s episode of The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1 (“Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”). For the very first time, she interacted with her former Jedi Master’s son, Luke Skywalker (CGI Mark Hamill/Graham Hamilton) and delivered Djarin’s beskar chainmail gift to his foundling, Grogu.
Related: ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Debut Date Details Reportedly Confirmed
When Dawson reemerges as the popular character in Ahsoka, she is expected to be expected to be a sort of live-action Rebels sequel, as Ahsoka presumably enters the World Between Worlds on her quest to find Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and fellow Jedi Ezra Bridger (Mena Massoud).
Rebels character Sabine Wren will also make her live-action debut in the upcoming spinoff series, with Natashia Liu-Bordizzo replacing voice actress Tiya Sircar.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Timeline Undergoes Major Changes, New Official Eras Added
Details about Winstead’s character are being kept under wraps. Ahsoka does not yet have a debut date, but is expected in 2023.
What do you think about the rumors that Mary Elizabeth Winstead is being tapped to effectively replace Gina Carano?