With Gina Carano not currently employed by Lucasfilm with no plans for them to employ her in the future, Star Wars now has an unplanned storytelling problem. The character of Cara Dune was clearly being set-up for bigger and better things in the Star Wars universe. The upcoming show ‘Rangers Of The New Republic’ was rumoured to be built around the character and there was potential for appearances in all the other shows. Now that the actress has been removed there will be a creative reshuffle. We look at how things may continue.
5. “Somehow, Cara Dune died.”
The nice and simple way is to kill the character off screen. Do it through dialogue and then move on. That would be about as final as you could get and put an end to the whole situation.
4. “What? Who?”
Forget about the character. Treat her like Richie’s brother in ‘Happy Days’ and say she has gone away and then never mention the character again. You could even get Bryce Dallas Howard to direct the episode, I’m sure her dad could give her some advice.
3. “I’m Sorry”
Leave it a year, get Carano some help or advice about how she expresses herself, and have her give a public apology for any offence that she may have caused (let’s be clear, the way she uses social media is offensive even if she or you doesn’t think it is). Then rehire her. Disney have a history of this. James Gunn got into similar trouble, but with old and not current tweets, got fired but then after apologising, proving himself changed and responsible with social media he was rehire. Rosanne Barr, on the other hand, tweeted offensively but blamed her medication rather than take responsibility and never worked for Disney again.
2. “She recast Cara.”
If they feel they need the character to keep the story moving there is always the option of recasting. Though, unlike Marvel (which is a comparable part of the Disney machine and have done it a number of times), Lucasfilm have never really swapped out an actor. Actors faces have always been key to there branding and it has always been clear who is who. You also get the feeling the role would be a poison chalice (whoever took it would be upsetting someone) and they would struggle to find someone to take it.
1. “Hi, my name is Dara Hune.”
The best option would be to bring in a new character. There are a few options here. They could have an analogue, maybe a former squad mate, that is Cara Dune in every way except name. Maybe it could be a completely new, completely different strong woman. Or, they could pull from existing material and use a character like Iden Versio (Battlefront II) or Mara Jade (numerous Legends tales).
Lucasfilm are stuck between a rock and a hard place with this situation. Whatever they do will result in someone being unhappy. What would you do about Cara Dune?
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