Warning: SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 5.
Star Wars is still teasing its canceled TV series The Rangers of the New Republic on its current Disney+ shows, namely The Book of Boba Fett. The Rangers of the New Republic was expected to focus on the adventures of Gina Carano's Cara Dune, the shock trooper who occasionally accompanied Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on his adventures in The Mandalorian. However, Lucasfilm fired Carano from any future projects due to her controversial social media comments. Considering that Carano would have been a major focus in the spin-off show, her firing was no doubt a major factor in the show's cancellation.
As a character, Cara Dune was well-received by audiences, and her connections to the New Republic and Alderaan are still intriguing elements for Star Wars to explore. Despite speculation at the time of Carano's firing that Lucasfilm would recast Dune, a Disney spokesperson confirmed that this won't be the case. In a way, writing Cara Dune out may help The Mandalorian because Carano's unexplained absence would only serve as a distraction and keep the focus on her many public social media controversies. But that doesn't appear to be the end of the story she was set to lead, however.
Despite Carano being fired from The Mandalorian, elements that would have been explored further in The Rangers of the New Republic spinoff series are still being mentioned in Star Wars' newest Disney+ show, The Book of Boba Fett. Boba Fett began filming in November 2020, before Rangers was officially scrapped. Still, Rangers information hasn't been edited out of Boba Fett. While Rangers is canceled, the ideas that it would have fleshed out are likely being explored instead in the existing Star Wars Disney shows. Considering how many Star Wars shows are coming up, from Ahsoka to Lando, this is perhaps a wiser move.
Boba Fett's reflection on modern Star Wars exemplifies the strengths and mistakes of the Disney+ TV shows, one of which being the rehashing of elements in lieu of developing new elements and unknown characters. Boba Fett's episode 5 focuses entirely on The Mandalorian's Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and while this episode is enticing and well-received by audiences, many viewers believe this episode highlighted some critical problems of the show. The episode does set up The Mandalorian's long-awaited season 3 and touches on things regarding the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic, both of which were to be expanded upon in The Rangers of the New Republic. However, considering Boba Fett's absence in Book of Boba Fett's episode 5, the show feels redundant if it can go a whole episode without its titular character.
To give the benefit of the doubt, The Book of Boba Fett will produce more fodder centered around Boba Fett that will develop his character more and pick the show's pace up a bit. With The Rangers of the New Republic now off the table, Boba Fett seems to be incorporating new information that it otherwise wouldn't have covered, which is a further plus. Star Wars will benefit from developing franchise elements in existing shows instead of providing such elements entirely new shows like The Rangers of the New Republic, even if those new shows had interesting potential.
Episodes of The Book of Boba Fett air Wednesdays on Disney+
