Barry Jenkins' Lion King prequel casts Mufasa and Scar voice actors

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Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre have joined the prequel's cast

The Lion King
(Image credit: Disney)

The Lion King prequel has cast its two leads, Deadline reports – Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre will be voicing younger versions of Mufasa and Taka (AKA the lion who eventually becomes the villainous Scar).

The prequel, a follow-up to 2019's The Lion King, will be directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, who previously helmed Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa in the remake, reprising his role from the original 1994 animation, while Chiwetel Ejiofor voiced Scar. The 2019 movie also starred Donald Glover, Beyoncé, and Seth Rogen – if that casting list is any indication of what's to come for the prequel, expect plenty more big names to be announced.

The movie is set to explore the mythology of the Lion King's classic characters, as well as providing an origin story for Simba's father Mufasa. Jeff Nathanson, the screenwriter of the 2019 movie, is back on script writing duties, and production is reportedly underway. 

Pierre recently worked with Jenkins on Amazon Prime's The Underground Railroad – he played Caesar in the series based on Colson Whitehead's novel of the same name. He was last seen in M. Night Shyalaman's latest movie Old. Meanwhile, Harrison Jr. recently played Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and he's set to play musician B.B. King in Baz Lurhmann's upcoming Elvis Presley biopic.

Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.