James Earl Jones will reprise his role as Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King remake!

jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa

by Emma Dodds |
Published on

Be Prepared to have your heart ripped out of your chest at Mufasa's death again

We're definitely in the midst of Disney's newest era - the Live-Action Remake Era.

Although the first few live-action remakes weren't HUGE hits (sorry Cinderella, Maleficent and Tarzan), the latest couple have done VERY well - did you see last year's The Jungle Book? It was INCREDIBLE. They even kept in most of the songs too! And, of course, there's the new Beauty And The Beast, which comes out on March 17 (LESS THAN A MONTH).

And after the director of the Jungle Book remake, Jon Favreau (who you may recognise as the billionaire Pete that Monica went out with in Friends), announced last September that he will be making a remake of THE LION KING, we have all been wondering who will replace that perfect cast.

jon-favreau-pete-monica-courteney-cox
Jon Favreau as Pete, Monica's boyfriend, in Friends (Credit: NBC) ©NBC

Disney die-hard fans (such as the writer of this piece) and sceptics think that Disney should leave well enough alone - after all, why would you mess with a classic?

But after The Jungle Book has done so well, and Beauty And The Beast looks set to go stratospheric, perhaps we should keep open minds.

jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
Director Jon Favreau with actor Sir Ben Kingsley (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

ESPECIALLY since James Earl Jones is reprising his momentous role as Mufasa.

Blimey, it's just one bombshell after another, isn't it?!

After Favreau confirmed in September last year that he would be directing the new Lion King remake by uploading a photo from the original Disney film of Mufasa on a rock and captioning it: "Excited for my next project," he has followed the same pattern by telling the world his latest castings.

Favreau confirmed that James Earl Jones would be returning to one of his most pivotal roles via both Twitter and Instagram.

Fans flocked to Twitter in their hundreds to praise the casting, even requesting that some of the other original cast members reprise their other roles.

jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
©Twitter
jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
©Twitter
jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
©Twitter

Other fans gave their opinions over the other characters who were yet to be cast, too.

jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
©Twitter
jon-favreau-disney-remake-donald-glover-simba-childish-gambino-james-earl-jones-mufasa
©Twitter

As Lupita Nyong'o starred as Mowgli's surrogate wolf mother Raksha in Favreau's The Jungle Book, this one actually could be quite likely!

But that wasn't the only cast announcement that Jon made that day.

Again following his previous method, he announced that Donald Glover would be taking over the role of Simba.

If the name doesn't ring any bells, Glover has built up a rather large name for himself not in the acting world, but in the music world too under the name Childish Gambino, where he has been nominated for two Grammy awards for his second album, Because The Internet.

He had an important role in the Matt Damon-led The Martian in 2015, and starred in series Community alongside Chevy Chase.

But 2017 looks to be the year for Glover - not only will he be starring as the main character in the live-action remake, he also has a major role in upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming and will take on the role as Han Solo's backstabbing best friend Lando Calrissian in the as yet unnamed Star Wars film centred on Han. It will also feature Hollywood legends Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton, as well as Game Of Thrones' Emilia Clarke.

Are you as excited as we are for the Lion King remake? Who else do you think should be in the film? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

Like this? Now read these:

Mulan will get a Disney movie remake!

Disney is making a new live action Snow White!

Aladdin is the next classic to get a live-action makeover!

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us