Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King teaser trailer is indistinguishable from The Lion King

If no one was asking for a live-action Lion King remake, then really no one—maybe even negative people—were asking for a live-action Lion King remake prequel. Even burgeoning auteur Barry Jenkins sounded a little confused about how he ended up as director when introducing footage at CinemaCon, acknowledging that people might be wondering “‘what is the director of Moonlight doing talking to me about an eight-quadrant tentpole legacy IP massive film?’” He thought it “was very strange” at first too, but now calls it “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life” (per Variety). You can judge that for yourself now that the teaser trailer for the movie—which premieres in theaters December 20—is here.

If you’re looking for Jenkins’ fingerprints on this trailer, you can see it, sort of. (Some outlets have noted the “intimate Barry Jenkins close-up” is present.) Mostly it just looks… a lot like the previous Lion King. For one thing, it’s still a bunch of photorealistic computer-generated animals, which convey none of the expression, playfulness, and whimsy of the 1994 animated classic. For another, many of the scenes depicted are indistinguishable from The Lion King as we know it: Lion on a big rock. Stampede. Animals doing choreography. Rafiki making wise pronouncements. Timon and Pumbaa getting up to hijinks. What looks like a fiery climactic battle. Lion looking up at stars in the configuration of another lion.

The sameness extends to the characters and cast, including Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Kani, who are all reprising their roles from the 2019 film. But Mufasa also features that movie’s Simba and Nala, Donald Glover, and Beyoncé. Apparently, the film is both a prequel and a sequel, alternating timelines with Mufasa’s story and Simba and Nala raising their daughter Kiara, played here by Beyoncé’s actual daughter Blue Ivy Carter. (Kiara was first introduced in the direct-to-video sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. “There’s some stuff from the canon that is very much referenced or alluded to, but it’s its own thing,” Jenkins promised of his movie in an interview with Empire Magazine.)

There are only a few instances in the teaser to distinguish Mufasa from the 2019 film, including visions of a lion’s pride in Africa’s snowy mountains. Otherwise, we pretty much have to wait and see for the new stuff, which includes original music from Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda. Per Disney’s synopsis, the new story follows “Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.”

As far as new cast members go, Aaron Pierre voices the young Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. voices Taka, (“a lion prince with a bright future who accepts Mufasa into his family as a brother”, so, Scar), Tiffany Boone voices Sarabi, Kagiso Lediga voices Young Rafiki, Preston Nyman voices Zazu (taking over from John Oliver in the 2019 version), Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros (“a formidable lion with big plans for his pride”), Thandiwe Newton as Taka’s mother, Eshe, Lennie James as Taka’s father, Obasi, Anika Noni Rose as Mufasa’s mother, Afia, and Keith David as Mufasa’s father, Masego.