It seems like there's always a new scoop about Star Wars these days, whether it be another upcoming series or something like a clever fan artist's medieval renditions of the series' characters. However, this time, it seems the situation is a bit different as the big news now concerns less Star Wars rather than more.
It appears that development on the upcoming spin-off series Rangers of the New Republic has been halted. There's no word on how long it will remain in limbo, or if it will ever start up again. Interestingly enough, the news broke from the depths of the official (albeit delayed) announcement that Dave Filoni had been promoted to Executive Creative Director at Lucasfilm. Perhaps Disney simply thought this development wasn't worth its own full press release.
Rangers of the New Republic was announced alongside several other spin-offs like Ahsoka during Disney's Investor Day in December, and unlike the other projects given the spotlight during the presentation, virtually no information was given beyond the show's title. However, it seemed like a pretty safe bet that it would star Gina Carano as her character Cara Dune, seeing as Dune had taken on the title of Ranger by the end of The Mandalorian season 2. With that in mind, it's rather easy to guess why the spin-off has been put on hold.
Carano made headlines fairly recently when she was fired from The Mandalorian, for those out of the loop. Disney cut ties with her following her hateful and anti-Semitic posts, such as one on Instagram comparing being a Republican in the United States to being a Jewish person during the Holocaust. She also made slightly smaller waves with similarly ignorant and harmful statements regarding trans people, though the outcry was unfortunately much smaller in that case. Her firing resulted in many assuming Rangers of the New Republic would soon get the ax as well, since it seemed fairly obvious even from the get-go that Disney intended to feature Carano in a lead role on the show.
Rangers of the New Republic was supposedly going to be part of a big connected series of shows on Disney Plus, such as The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and The Book of Boba Fett, which would eventually culminate in a huge crossover event. (Those are so hot right now.) But it seems as though it shouldn't be that difficult to either rework the series to star some other New Republic figures (like the X-Wing pilots) or simply remove it entirely.
However things end up, Star Wars fans still have plenty to chew on, both in terms of existing shows and upcoming projects. Ahsoka will focus on a long-time fan-favorite character and The Book of Boba Fett appears ready to hit that nostalgia nerve dead center. So sit back, relax, and just remember that hate leads to suffering.
The Star Wars Saga is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Variety