Disney continues its streak of live-action adaptations with Mufasa: The Lion King, featuring Donald Glover and Beyoncé excitedly (and surprisingly) reprising their roles from the 2019 movie, indicating one major fact about the upcoming prequel. The 2024 musical drama film, directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson, follows in the footsteps of the aforementioned 2019 photorealistic animated remake of the beloved Disney tale by jumping back in time to tell Mufasa’s origin story. However, Glover and Beyoncé’s roles in the movie suggest that it’s more than just a prequel.
Mufasa: The Lion King will primarily center around Mufasa, Simba’s father, and how he rose to power in the Pride Lands of the African savanna. Unlike most other Disney live-action adaptations, the upcoming film features an original story that has not yet been told in animated form. Based on its uniqueness, the success of The Lion King (2019), and the addition of Glover and Beyoncé, Mufasa: The Lion King is shaping up to be one of Disney’s most highly anticipated projects.
Donald Glover, who voiced Simba in The Lion King (2019), and Beyoncé, who starred as Nala, are officially returning in the prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King. Obviously, Simba and Nala weren’t alive when Mufasa was growing up and working his way towards the throne. So, Glover and Beyoncé’s involvement in the 2024 musical drama reveals that not only is it a prequel, but it’s also a sequel to the 2019 live-action adaptation.
Mufasa: The Lion King will take place over the course of multiple timelines, including the primary one involving Mufasa’s rise to power and the secondary one featuring the events after The Lion King‘s ending. The upcoming prequel/sequel will seemingly be structured similarly to The Godfather Part II, with Rafiki telling Simba and Nala’s daughter — Kiara — her grandfather’s story. While the majority of the 2024 Disney movie will assumingly cover Mufasa’s journey (therefore, making it a prequel), Simba and Nala’s involvement in the film also classifies it as a sequel.
A Lion King prequel was exciting in and of itself, but the fact that the 2024 musical drama is also a sequel makes it all the more compelling because it widens its scope. Donald Glover and Beyoncé’s returns elevate the hype, and the story possibilities are now endless because the upcoming movie is a prequel and sequel. Hopefully, the film lives up to the hype, but the odds are in its favor as its plot is being set up for success. Plus, the cast of Mufasa: The Lion King, including Glover and Beyoncé, is impressive, to say the least.