‘Mufasa: The Lion King’: New Images Reveals the Villain Kiros!! Check It Out!!

As Mufasa: The Lion King gets closer and closer to its release date, fans of the franchise start getting more and more information about the anticipated prequel. The new installment will chronicle the early years of Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) before he became the father of Simba (Donald Glover) and the king of the jungle. The blockbuster is set to premiere in theaters on December 20, and today Entertainment Weekly revealed an exclusive new look into the movie’s new villain, Kiros, voiced by Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore).

The images show Kiros in two different scenarios: a snowy mountain and the savannah we know so well at this point. The white-haired lion looks like it’ll give plenty of trouble to Mufasa, and his actions certainly helped shape the leader that the title character became. Also, we can’t ignore the fact that Kiros will be a Scar of sorts, since the character seems to be as ruthless as Mufasa’s brother was in previous installments. In an official interview to EW, Mikkelsen broke down the personality of Kiros:

“He’s a great leader. He’s one of the lions who’s protecting his pride. And like most lions, he does believe that the best way of defense is offense. It’s a brutal world out there. So, in his world, it’s better to move before the other guys move. You could probably say that he’s set his target to a bigger piece of the land than the one he has already.”

Kiros Is Inspired By Real-Life White-Haired Lion

New photos of Kiara, Simba, Kiros, Timon and Pumba from Mufasa The Lion King from Entertainment Weekley #MufasaTheLionKing #lionking pic.twitter.com/pi7vxiklxY

— Mufasa: The Lion King Updates (@MufasaUpdate) November 12, 2024

Mikkelsen also added that Kiros’ pack’s ultimate goal is survival and the preservation of their group, meaning that “they see everybody else as enemies.” This means that we can expect Kiros and his pack to be territorial and vicious to any animal that threatens them. Mufasa: The Lion King‘s director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) commented about the villain and revealed that the genetically modified look of Kiros “actually exists out in the wild,” and that one of the things that he was excited about in the prequel was having a character that is “in some ways, as powerful as a character like Mufasa.”

The screenplay of Mufasa: The Lion King is written by Jeff Nathanson, who also penned the 2019 remake The Lion King. The voice cast features Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7) as Taka, Seth Rogen (Kung Fu Panda 4) as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner (Bros) as Timon, John Kani (Black Panther) as Rafiki, Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) as Eshe, Keith David (Hazbin Hotel) as Masego, Anika Noni Rose (Let The Right One in) as Afia, Tiffany Boone (Hunters) as Sarabi, Beyoncé as Nala and Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara.