#I see people saying that making Mufasa and Scar adopted brothers is “setting up” a live action remake of TLK 2 with Kovu as Scar's son

[kaythefloppa]

Tired to death of seeing people say that the new Lion King film is "Fixing the awkward family tree" by making Mufasa and Scar not adopted (i.e. Scar being Nala or Kovu's father in a scenario would be "okay")

We've had this conversation before; Adoption is no less valid a familial connection than blood. Implying that Mufasa and Scar aren't "real brothers" because they were adopted and that their relatives can get together as consequence of this is incredibly tone-deaf to imply that adoption is a "lesser" form of family and therefore can commit incest. And in a movie where the main characters sing a musical numer called "I Always Wanted a Brother," this is just... a really weird takeaway, to put it gently.

And oh-yeah, there's no awkward family tree to begin with, no matter what slop Buzzfeed or Screenrant regurgitates every 2 years: Nala isn't Scar's daughter, (both based on just... basic context in and out of the movie), Kovu isn't Scar's son (based on it having to be said twice in the film).

And also, Mufasa: The Lion King takes place in an alternate universe. Word of mouth from the creators, "It's its own thing." So it would not over-write any of the family trees of the 2D animated movies anyways (that won't stop people from applying headcanons in accordance to the film, but there's the objective fact).

I'm excited for the new movie as well, and I too really like the idea of Mufasa being an orphaned cub, and him and Scar becoming brothers, but if we're going to praise the film/have high hopes for it, can we express them in ways that do not involve bashing the original with baseless critiques and half-truths that have been disproven time and time again? Especially when the topic involves something as sensitive as incest conflated with something as misunderstood and stigmatized as adoption?