2019's live-action The Lion King movie was criticised for essentially being a shot-for-shot remake of the classic 1994 movie. However, from a technological standpoint, the movie was nothing short of a groundbreaking masterpiece.
For a time, there were rumblings that filmmaker Jon Favreau might return to helm a sequel which told an original story. He's since shifted his attention to Star Wars and The Mandalorian, leaving Disney to turn to Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins for an exploration of Mufasa and Scar's early years in the prequel movie, Mufasa: The Lion King.
Aaron Pierre will take over as Mufasa from the iconic James Earl Jones and is well aware that he has big shoes to fill.
"Well, first and foremost, I want to acknowledge that James Earl Jones is an enormous inspiration of mine," the actor tells Collider. "Massively. And I feel very honored to be walking into this role after him. I think the key difference will be that here we're exploring Mufasa in a different capacity."
"When Sir James Earl Jones portrayed him, this is Mufasa in his full capacity, in his rhythm, and I think here we're exploring Mufasa prior to that point," Pierre adds. "What does this young lion look like before he is who we know him as, and he is discovering his rhythm, how he conducts himself, how he engages with his community and his loved ones? So, I think that's the key thing. It's figuring it out."
Pierre is best known for his roles in the DC Comics series Krypton and M. Night Shyamalan's Old. Kelvin Harrison Jr. takes over the role of Scar from Chiwetel Ejiofor, though there will be some connective tissue to the 2019 movie thanks to the returns of Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumba alongside John Kani as Rafiki.
"I think you'll see a ton of familiar faces," Jenkins teased in a 2022 interview. "It is a prequel, but again, it's a prequel in the sense that these are all the same characters, but we're telling you how they came to be who they are. So we're literally going backward. We're going back in time with many of these characters. We're in the present, as well, but we're also going back to tell who these characters were."
"Please expect musical numbers," the director added. "Really wonderful musical numbers, I'd say."
Mufasa: The Lion King arrives in theaters on December 20, later this year.