Disney's The Lion King Remake: Casting All 10 Major Roles

2. Scar (Mads Mikkelsen)

The Lion King Liam Neeson
Disney

Scar is one of cinema's most iconic villains, and that's largely down to Jeremy Irons and his performance in the 1994 original.

The way the character chose his words with laser-focused precision and used different vocal tones to manipulate different people - like his condescending attitude toward Simba and his pandering 'yes sire' approach with Mufasa - made him an incredibly memorable antagonist.

And Mads Mikkelsen, who's got a similarly droll set of pipes, knows how to create a memorable villain. He's given us arguably the best Bond villain in decades with Le Chiffre, and his turn as Hannibal in the NBC series won him multiple Saturn awards and bags of critical acclaim. Hannibal was the epitome of the likeable villain, and that's one of the biggest qualities that makes Scar so appealing; we know he's completely evil, yet we just can't help enjoy watching him operate.

Chances Of It Happening

Disney absolutely adores Mads Mikkelsen lately, handing him not one, but two roles in two of their biggest movies of the year; Rogue One and Doctor Strange. This, combined with his instantly recognisable voice and ability to skillfully play villains, makes him about as close to a lock as it can get.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.