Take a look and see for yourself.
The first full-length trailer for the live-action remake of The Lion King hit the internet yesterday. And though there’s a lot to love — from the recreation of the iconic moonlit silhouette shot to a few bars of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” — the big takeaway is that people are mad about Scar. You remember Scar. He’s the bad guy, voiced by Jeremy Irons in the original film. Well, the reactions to the new Scar are probably tied with the Will Smith Genie thing in Aladdin. The new Scar is making people lose it. Here’s why.
The big problem people have is how Scar looks.
In the original Lion King, Scar has a sneaky, untrustworthy vibe. He slinks around with dark brown fur, black mane, goatee, and green eyes that mark him as evil, an obvious contrast to the upright posture, yellow fur, and chestnut mane of his brother Mufasa.
In every trailer we’ve seen, Mufasa appears strong and kind in the remake and having James Earl Jones reprise his role means his vibe will be consistent between the films.
On the other hand, our first look at Scar shows a very different lion. He’s missing a chunk of his ear, appears more gaunt than slender, and doesn’t have the suave sinisterness he did in the first film. It’s similar to the difference between Jack Nicholson’s neat and polished Joker and Heath Ledger’s ragged and unkempt appearance in the same role.
Plenty of people had not-so-nice things to say about Scar’s appearance on Twitter. Many were offended that the new Scar lacked the sex appeal of the original, who is apparently something of a gay icon.
Some took issue with the CGI of the new film, arguing that the medium itself is too restrictive.
It wasn’t all bad news, though. Plenty of folks piped up to say that they’re excited to see hyperrealistic Scar in movie theaters on July 19.
