Lucasfilm has done a full 180, or at least a public one. After years of legal drama and a social media storm worthy of its own Star Wars spinoff, the studio now says it’s open to working with Gina Carano again. Yes, the same Gina Carano who sued them for wrongful termination and was effectively scrubbed from the Disney+ galaxy.
“Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff,” Lucasfilm said in a surprisingly kind (and unsigned) statement. “We look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”
That’s not exactly the kind of thing you say about someone you just beat in court, especially when the case wasn’t thrown out and ended in a settlement that included Elon Musk footing the bill.
Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian in 2021 after posting (and defending) a comparison between modern-day conservatives and Jews during the Holocaust. The backlash was swift, with #FireGinaCarano trending and Disney wasting no time erasing her from posters, future projects, and even Running Wild with Bear Grylls.
Carano hit back with a lawsuit, claiming she was dropped not for violating company policy, but for daring to voice her own views. “I want to extend my deepest most heartfelt gratitude to Elon Musk,” she wrote on X. “A man I’ve never met, who did this Good Samaritan deed for me… and asked for nothing in return.”
The lawsuit, which wasn’t some online tantrum but an actual federal case, was on its way to a courtroom showdown next February, with a possible witness list that included Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, and even Bear Grylls. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ruled against dismissing the case early, keeping Carano’s claims alive and putting Disney in the hot seat.
And then… poof. The case is being dismissed with prejudice, meaning it’s over for good, and we’ll likely never know the terms of the settlement. But Disney’s language now sounds a lot less corporate scorched-earth and a bit more PR patch-up.
Still, it’s hard to imagine a Cara Dune comeback happening anytime soon. When Season 3 of The Mandalorian aired, the show awkwardly explained her absence by saying she’d been recruited by special forces. In other words, we don’t want to recast her, but we also don’t want to talk about her.
And yet, Lucasfilm name-dropping Carano in 2025 could mean they’re softening, or at least trying to avoid another headline about cancelling a conservative actress during an election year. It’s also possible they’re just playing nice because, well, Musk has a lot of influence. And money.
Is it too late for Carano to return to the Star Wars universe? Probably. But if Darth Maul can survive being cut in half and thrown down a pit, anything’s possible. And it might be the huge comeback Disney+’s Star Wars shows need.
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