First Castings Revealed for Prequel to Lion King Remake

The prequel to Disney’s CG-animated remake of The Lion King has cast its leads. This remake was released in 2019 and made over $1.6 billion at the global box office, so it is not surprising that Disney has greenlit a follow-up. You can find more details regarding the two hires below.

Hakuna Ma-Talent

Deadline first reported Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre will lead the cast of this yet-to-be-titled prequel that will focus on the relationship between younger versions of Scar and Mufasa. Harrison Jr. will voice Taka, who according to the 1994 novel The Lion King: A Tale of Two Brothers will become Scar, while Pierre will voice a younger version of Mufasa.

Harrison Jr. has appeared in several critically acclaimed independent films such as Waves, It Comes at Night, and Luce. He also played Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton in the Academy Award-nominated biopic The Trial of the Chicago 7, which was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.

Pierre, on the other hand, played Caesar in the Emmy-nominated Amazon miniseries The Underground Railroad. His other on-screen acting credits include portraying Dev-Em in the Syfy series Krypton, set 200 years before the birth of Superman, and Mid-Sized Sedan/Brendan in the 2021 M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old.

Who Will Lead this Circle of Light?

Disney announced back in September 2020 that Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, best known for the films Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, will direct this prequel to Jon Favreau’s photo-realistically animated remake of The Lion King from 2019.

Jeff Nathanson, who wrote The Lion King remake, will return to write this prequel.

“Helping my sister raise two young boys during the ’90s, I grew up with these characters,” said Jenkins (via Deadline). “Having the opportunity to work with Disney on expanding this magnificent tale of friendship, love, and legacy while furthering my work chronicling the lives and souls of folk within the African diaspora is a dream come true.”

Keep in mind that Jenkins also co-wrote and directed the aforementioned Underground Railroad miniseries, so this new movie would reunite him with Pierre.

No release date is set for the film at this time, but keep checking Nerd Stash for more updates on this Lion King prequel.