Gina Carano Returning To Star Wars, But Not How You Expect
Lucasfilm made its views about Gina Carano crystal clear: there’s no Force in the galaxy compelling enough bring Cara Dune back, whether fans like it or not.
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Lucasfilm made its views about Gina Carano crystal clear: there’s no Force in the galaxy compelling enough bring Cara Dune back, whether fans like it or not. The studio severed ties with the Mandalorian star a while back for what some perceived as transphobia and antisemitism, leading industry pros to believe Season 2 is the last time we’ll be seeing Carano in Star Wars. But that’s not quite the case where Disney merchandising is concerned.
LEGO is still offering minifigures of Gina Carano’s Cara Dune, evidenced by an upcoming bumper pack marketed in a recent Japanese catalog. The images are fuzzy, but one of the figures’ stocky build and wavy dark hair is unmistakably Dune’s. The minifigure is part of a LEGO Star Wars set scheduled for release this summer. Set number 75315 — which features Moff Gideon’s gun-toting Light Cruiser front and center — includes an enticing lineup of The Mandalorian minifigures. Cara Dune is accompanied by Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, Grogu, Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand, and a Darktrooper.
Here are the images…
Lucasfilm is one of Disney’s many subsidiaries, so it makes sense for the company to double back and hit the off switch on any prospective Cara Dune action figures, to keep its stance against the actress consistent. Gina Carano merch seemed down for a while; Hasbro reportedly cancelled any future Black Series Cara Dunes the same week of Carano’s firing. The action figure was a huge sellout when it hit shelves in 2020, motivating Hasbro to rubber-stamp another production run. BigBadToyStore told The Hollywood Reporter it was accepting preorders for the action figure when Hasbro aborted the whole line.
Fortunately for brick owners, LEGO wasn’t deterred by Carano’s firing in any way and continues to manufacture minifigures related to the character. The Cara Dune offered in LEGO Star Wars’s newest lineup is the same Cara Dune included in 2019’s 75254 AT-ST Raider, also inspired by The Mandalorian. The set costs $49.99 from The LEGO Store.
In addition to Gina Carano’s Cara Dune, the rest of the summer consumer catalog are all Mandalorian exclusives. 75312 Slave I has minifigures of Din Djarin and an updated version of Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett. The ship is equipped with a functional cockpit and forward-facing artillery for fans to relive fond Mandalorian memories with. 75316 Mandalorian Fighter has minifigures of fellow Mandalorians Bo Katan and Gar Saxon, voiced by Katee Sackhoff and Ray Stevenson in The Clone Wars, respectively. 75311 Imperial Troop Transport highlights Greef Karga’s (Carl Weathers) escape from an Imperial base on the volcanic planet of Nevarro. Two Stormtroopers and a Mortar Stormtrooper also feature. 75299 The Mandalorian Trouble in Tatooine is set on Luke Skywalker’s home planet and includes minifigures of Din Djarin, Grogu, and a Tusken Raider. 75310 The Mandalore Throne and Vault recreates Ahsoka’s duel against Darth Maul in The Clone Wars.
The remaining offerings are 75314 The Bad Batch Attack Shuttle (includes Bad Batch clones Tech, Echo, Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair, and a Gonk Droid) and 75296 Darth Vader Meditation Chamber (includes Darth Vader and General Veers). The whole catalog, including Gina Carano’s figure, should be available online and in toy stores this August.
