Mufasa: The Lion King Trailer Showcases a Wild Origin Story (and Blue Ivy Carter's Movie Debut!)

Mufasa: The Lion King is roaring into theaters soon.

At the D23 fan event held in ​​Anaheim, Calif. on Aug. 9, Walt Disney Studios unveiled a new full trailer for the movie, a prequel to 2019's blockbuster live-action reimagining of The Lion King.

A previous teaser for Mufasa debuted in April, featuring narration from Rafiki and a first look at young Mufasa set to the “Circle of Life” song. 

Mufasa will take viewers through the character's origin story as he goes from an orphaned cub to the legendary king of the Pride Lands. It will also tell the story of his relationship with his brother Taka, otherwise known to fans as Scar. 

Kiara, the daughter of Simba and Nala, is in parts of the film, as are Timon and Pumbaa. 

"What you'll learn from the story is that Mufasa is who he is ... because of the family and the friends that he has,” director Barry Jenkins said at Disney's D23 Expo back in 2022. “And so I saw myself in that. I thought: 'This is a really beautiful story to tell.' "

The return of the much-loved animated film will also include the actors who voiced the characters in the 2019 installment. Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani and Beyoncé will all reprise their roles as Simba, Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki and Nala, respectively. 

There will be a few fresh faces as well. The new cast members include Aaron Pierre as young Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as young Scar, Tiffany Boone as Sarabi, Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros, Thandiwe Newton as Eshe, Lennie James as Obasi, and Blue Ivy Carter making her feature film debut as Kiara.

Blue Ivy previously became the youngest individual Grammy winner in 2021 at 9 years old after she was credited on her mother Beyoncé’s 2019 song and music video for “Brown Skin Girl.” The song was included in the soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift, which featured new songs inspired by the film.   

“I feel like Blue grew quite a bit over the course of that tour,” Jenkins told PEOPLE in April 2024. “The movie is kind of like this snapshot, this time capsule of a moment in their lives that I think is really beautiful. And it absolutely worked for the film.”

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This time around, fans can expect new original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, known for his musical contributions to other Disney animated films like Moana and Encanto. 

“The Lion King has an incredible musical legacy with music from some of the greatest songwriters around, and I'm humbled and proud to be a part of it,” Miranda said in a statement. “It's been a joy working alongside Barry Jenkins to bring Mufasa's story to life, and we can't wait for audiences to experience this film in theaters."

Mufasa: The Lion King is in theaters Dec. 20.