The Mandalorian creators explain how Gina Carano's firing will be dealt with

The Mandalorian returns on 10 March for its third season, and it will be without one of its major characters following the controversial firing of actress Gina Carano.

Earlier this year, Carano said the events that caused her withdrawal from The Mandalorian actually allowed her career to take a trajectory that was closer to her values. "I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was and the more time that goes by, the better I feel," she said on social media. As a refresher, Carano lost out on the role of Cara Dune following statements promoting anti-mask theories, mocking pronouns and saying she had a lot in common with persecuted Jewish people in Germany in the Third Reich as a Republican in the United States in 2021.

Check out this brilliant concept for a The Mandalorian video game below!

There were plenty of jokes at Carano's expense for how the showrunners would explain away Dune's imminent disappearance from the remainder of The Mandalorian. With the third season on our doorsteps, Deadline queried where the mercenary would end up with Din Djarin and Grogu stepping into a new chapter of their journey together.

“Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be part of the world. It had to be addressed in the creative and [Jon Favreau] took the time to think about that,” elaborated executive producer Rick Famuyiwa. “It was something that was discussed as we knew it was going to have impact on the show, but at the same time, what has been at the heart of the show are the two characters - Din Djarin and Grogu - so ultimately it felt like a servicing of that, and around the Mandalorians.”

Fellow executive producer Dave Filoni also fielded the possibility of Dune popping up in the background of whichever scabby planet that the two find themselves stranded on this time. “Now season three is mainly dealing with Mandalorians and the Mandalorian saga, the Mandalorian tale,” he clarified. “[There’s] different characters he’s met since Bo-Katan [who] take a lot more prominence, which makes sense where his arc is going, the story of him and Grogu specifically.”

The Mandalorian will debut on Disney+ on 1 March.