Get ready to return to Pride Rock. “The Lion King” saga continues with an official live-action installment coming to theaters this year, “Mufasa: The Lion King.” The film from Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”) gives us an origin story for the legendary king of the Pride Lands, Mufasa, and his brother (and eventual villain) Scar.
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The “live-action” film takes the same photorealistic approach of the hit 2019 flick, and sees Tony Award-winner Lin Manuel-Miranda joining the team with new music. The trailer wastes no time setting up the premise of the film, which reunites viewers with Rafiki as he tells Simba and Nala’s daughter Kira (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) the story of Mufasa and Scar.
The trailer made waves on Twitter almost immediately, as a new revelation has completely recontextualized the story. The clip reveals that Mufasa was actually an orphan, taken in by Scar (known then as Taka) and his mother. “We do not associate with outsiders,” Taka’s father warns in the trailer. “Taka is the future king.”
Well, that certainly changes things! As fans remember, when we meet these characters in “The Lion King,” Mufasa is the King of the Pride Lands, not Scar, his ego-driven and treacherous younger brother. Viewers of course took to Twitter immediately with their thoughts on this plot twist, with some calling it “crazy” and a plot twist that “changes everything.”
The general premise seems to fall in line with Disney’s main impulse when remaking their beloved animated films into live action adaptations: defending/recontextualizing their villains. Take the recent “Maleficent” films or “Cruella,” both of whom attempt to help viewers understand some of Disney’s most iconic bad guys in new ways.
It begs the question: can these characters ever just be villainous? Scar is already a very complex and nuanced character in both the original “The Lion King” and the 2019 “live-action” remake in his own right, but make no mistake, he is the bad guy. And maybe that is a good thing from a storytelling perspective. Good vs. evil and right vs. wrong are tried and true dynamics.
But still, perhaps some of Twitter’s confusion and outrage is a little premature. We do not have the full context of how we get from Taka (Scar) being the rightful heir to the throne, to Mufasa becoming King. Life often is not so black and white when it comes to “good” or “bad,” and perhaps our stories, especially epics like “The Lion King,” can afford to live more in the gray area.
While the two-minute trailer gives us plenty of context, we have to wait until December to truly witness this Mufasa origin story Disney has been cooking up, a job that director Barry Jenkins has not taken lightly.
As Variety reported, Jenkins opened up about the film when debuting the trailer at Disney’s fan convention D23 over the weekend. “Like all of you, ‘The Lion King’ made an indelible mark on me,” Jenkins told the excited crowd.
“Hearing the music and feeling every emotion as the story unfolded, a father bestowing a legacy upon his son, a pride being built anew, and a young lion rising to his destiny. Telling his story is an absolute honor.”
“Mufasa: The Lion King” lands in theaters on Dec. 20.
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