New details have been released about the upcoming prequel to Disney’s remake of The Lion King. It was previously announced in 2020 that the new version of The Lion King that hit theaters in 2019 would be getting a prequel focusing on younger versions of Mufasa and Scar. On Friday, it was revealed at the D23 Expo that the upcoming film has officially been titled as Mufasa: The Lion King and it will be coming to theaters sometime in 2024.

Footage of Mufasa: The Lion King was shown to attendees at D23, though it has not yet been made available to watch online. Per Variety, the footage featured Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) “telling the story of Mufasa to young cubs, revealing that the lion was actually an orphaned cub who had to navigate the world alone until he rose to become the king of Pride Rock. As such, the film goes beyond the iconic Pride Lands to show him as a cub in a desert, where he is swept away by a flood and becomes an orphan.”

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“In this place a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood. The lion who would change our lives forever," Rafiki says.

Timon, with Billy Eichner returning as the voice of the character, also adds in the meta joke, “Wait wait wait, am I not in this story? I don’t feel seen.”

Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen Return

It was reported out of D23 that Eichner and Seth Rogen will be respectively reprising their roles as Timon and Pumbaa in Mufasa: The Lion King. The cast also includes Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Mufasa and Scar. While the previous film was a retelling of the original cartoon, Mufasa: The Lion King will be presenting younger versions of these characters to reveal new information about them.

“Mufasa was actually an orphaned cub who had to navigate the world alone by himself, and in telling this story, we get to experience the real journey of how Mufasa found his place in the circle of life,” filmmaker Barry Jenkins said.

The 2019 film was directed by Jon Favreau and written by Jeff Nathanson. It was a tremendous hit in movie theaters, scoring more than $1.6 billion at the box office worldwide. It was no surprise to see Disney announcing a prequel to keep the money flowing with an all-new story in the Lion King universe.

Mufasa: The Lion King will be released in movie theaters in 2024.