Warning: This article contains spoilers for Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa: The Lion Kingwas one of the biggest movies of last year, telling the origin story of Mufasa and Scar as they become the royal family of the Pride Lands. The main thrust ofMufasa’s story is centered around the rift that forms between the two main brothers. While they start as the best of friends, we knew going in that eventually, Scar betrays and kills Mufasa during the events ofThe Lion King. However,Mufasaalso introduced new charactersalongside the legacy inclusions, expanding the universe in a very natural way.
WhileMufasa’s reviewswere fairly mixed, similarly to the previousThe Lion Kingremake, the characters were the biggest positive to be found for most reviewers, which makes a lot of sense, as the characters are already beloved, and are simply having their roles in the universe expanded. However,one of the most interesting parts of Mufasa is the Outsiders, and though they were mostly dealt with by its ending, there are still plenty of questions to ask about their role throughout theLion Kingfranchise.
Mufasa: The Lion King Introduces White Lions As The Outsiders
The Outsiders Are Mufasa’s Main Antagonists
The Outsiders are the main antagonistic force ofMufasa, sending the main duo on their adventure after they attackMufasa and Taka’s pride and kill their parents.They are a pride of outcast lions, who were shunned from their various original homes due to their white fur, and are generally very aggressive and domineering. During the first act of the film, two of the Outsiders attack Mufasa and Eshe, forcing him to kill one of them while the other escapes.
The Lion King Now Has 3 Simba Replacements After Mufasa’s Prequel
Mufasa may be a prequel story, but it introduces all kinds of new characters to the The Lion King series who could help carry things forward.
The group is led by Kiros, a white lion portrayed byMads Mikkelsen, who spends the movie seeking revenge for his son — the lion that attacked and was killed by Mufasa. While Kiros and his pride could’ve ended up being pretty one-note antagonists,they are instrumental in Taka’s character arc as he begins to resent Mufasa. Unsurprisingly, Mikkelsen also brings a very fun energy to the role. They aren’t the greatest villains ever, as Kiros sometimes feels like a slightly less interesting version of the original animated Scar, but they serve the film well enough.
The Lion King Doesn’t Include Any White Lions
None Of The Outsiders Are Seen Or Mentioned In The Previous Film
While the Outsiders are very soundly defeated by theend ofMufasa, they clearly still exist in some form after the events of the film. While Kiros was very obviously killed, even though his body was never shown, the rest of his pride mostly just disappeared once their leader was gone, leaving their fates very ambiguous, though presumably at least some of them survived. Despite this, no Outsiders whatsoever appear inThe Lion King, even though, realistically, they would probably still be around in some way.
The in-universe reason that they didn’t appear was likely that they just weren’t strong enough to attempt anything big, and didn’t want to risk their lives repeating Kiros' mistake.
The main reason for this is obviously the fact that, when the originalLion Kingwas made, the Outsiders hadn’t been thought of yet, so of course, they wouldn’t be there. The story is centrally focused on the main royal family ofThe Lion King’s Pride Lands, and adding in a group of other lions wouldn’t add much to the movie, and would potentially take away from the plot. However, the in-universe reason that they didn’t appear was likely that they just weren’t strong enough to attempt anything big, and didn’t want to risk their lives repeating Kiros' mistake.
Where Mufasa’s White Lions Are During The Lion King
The Outsiders Are Probably Still Lurking In The Background
While it is impossible to know exactly what the Outsiders were doing during the events ofThe Lion King, as they weren’t even mentioned at all,there are plenty of things that can be used to speculate on what happened to thembetweenMufasaandThe Lion King. The Outsiders are actually a big part ofThe Lion King2animated film, which was released back in 1998 as a direct-to-video sequel to the original movie, where they are presented as Scar’s old pride who wants to assassinate Simba and take control of the Pride Lands.
Kiara was the main character inThe Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, though her brother, seen inMufasa, was not a part of that movie.
The Outsiders inMufasaare almost certainly setup forThe Lion King 2, which, while not officially confirmed, is essentially guaranteed to happen considering Disney’s recent film strategies. If that eventual sequel at least loosely follows the plot of the original animated sequel, then the Outsiders are likely just watching and waiting in the Outlands, as they are much weaker without Kiros. Simba’s daughter Kiara will likely take on a bigger role after the events ofMufasa: The Lion King, which will undoubtedly involve the Outsiders once again.
