Black Panther's Dad Will Play Rafiki In Jon Favreau's The Lion King; Simba’s Mom Also Cast

Jon Favreau's CG remake of The Lion King is progressing steadily, and the cast is slowly building up. News has it that the movie has just cast two more voice actors in the roles of Rafiki and Sarabi (Simba's Mom). Funny thing is, both of them were in Captain America: Civil War.

According to The Wrap, John Kani, who played T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, is going to be playing crazed Baboon psychic Raifiki in The Lion King. What's more, EW confirms that Alfre Woodard will also be providing the voice of Simba's mother Sarabi.

Kani and Woodard will be joining a cast which includes Donald Glover as an adult Simba, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, and John Oliver as Zazu. James Earl Jones, the original voice of Mufasa, will be reprising his role in this movie (the only original cast member to do so), and Chiwetel Ejiofor is said to be in talks to play the villain Scar.

So far, we still don't have anyone cast as the voice of Simba's love interest Nala, and I'm sure the production will want to cast some known actors for Scar's Hyena henchmen. Not to mention there's still no mention on who'll be voicing little Simba.

Thanks to his achievement with The Jungle Book, Favreau is going to continue directing CGI animals for The Lion King, and he's working on a script from Jeff Nathanson, the man who wrote PoTC: Dead Men Tell no Tales and Catch Me if You Can.

The Lion King is set to hit theaters July 19, 2019.

See Also: Watch This Rare Video Of Justice League's Jeremy Irons Singing ‘Be Prepared' For The Lion King