‘The Lion King’ Remake Casts John Kani as Rafiki

Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King has been steadily rolling out a number of casting updates, and the latest is that actor John Kani is set to take on the role of Rafiki, the royal adviser to Mufasa and his family, The Wrap reports.

Kani previously took on the role of Black Panther’s father, King T’Chaka, in Captain America: Civil War.

Much like the original animated film, Sarabi is incredibly distraught by Mufasa’s death and Scar has taken advantage of the lack of leadership by commanding the rest of the pride to bow at his command. After Scar lies to Sarabi about Simba dying in the stampede, she finds herself helpless to overthrow Scar — that is, until Simba’s eventual return empowers her to take action.

The film will also star Donald Glover as Simba, Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively, John Oliver as Zazu and James Earl Jones, who returns to the role of Mufasa.

The film will be directed by Jon Favreau, who found previous success with last year’s live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, giving Disney big hopes for translating their animated hits into live-action blockbuster films.

The Lion King arrives in theaters in June 2019.

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