When The Mandalorian spinoff Rangers of the New Republic was first announced alongside a raft of other Disney Plus exclusives towards the end of last year, most people assumed that this was the long-rumored solo series that would see Gina Carano step out of the shadows to take center stage.
After all, season 2 of the smash hit Star Wars show literally handed Cara Dune a badge to hammer home the notion that she was, in fact, a Ranger of the New Republic. In case you hadn’t noticed, though, the former MMA fighter is no longer under contract with Lucasfilm, which may have left a gaping hole at the top of the cast for the in-development project.
All we know about Rangers of the New Republic so far is that it’s happening, it exists within the same timeline as The Mandalorian, and it’ll cross over with The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka to culminate in an epic small screen Star Wars event. However, a new report now claims that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni could be dipping back into the animated well, with Hera Syndulla rumored to step up and headline the ensemble in place of Cara Dune.
The Twi’lek found herself as a firm fan favorite after debuting in Rebels, where she’s the captain and pilot of freighter the Ghost, and in canon she eventually became a general of the New Republic. The Mandalorian‘s expanded universe has already shown itself to be more than willing to pluck names, events and faces from the The Clone Wars and Rebels, so there’s every chance that a pre-existing character could be chosen to lead Rangers of the New Republic to tie the live-action narrative even closer to the animated mythos.
