‘Coming 2 America’ Brings Back James Earl Jones Among Other New & Returning Cast Members

Wesley Snipes joined the cast of the comedy sequel Coming 2 America earlier this week. Now it seems the full supporting cast has been revealed thanks to several different reports. They not only reveal new and returning cast members, but also give us some plot details about the movie starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.

First up, Deadline has word that James Earl Jones will be reprising his role as King Jaffe Joffer in Coming 2 America. However, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be around for too long, because the film begins with Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem being set to become the King of the fictional African nation of Zamunda as his father nears the end of his life. Just before he’s crowned king, Akeem learns that he has a son that he never knew about, and he just so happens to live in Queens, where he found his bride in the first movie.

Akeem’s father’s dying wish is to have Akeem go back to America to meet the son he never knew and groom him to become the next king of Zamunda. Of course, Akeem’s loyal aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) is going with him, and once they get back in Queens, they’ll reunite with familiar faces and meet plenty of new ones too.

The son Akeem never knew about is a street-savvy guy named Lavelle, played by comedian Jermaine Fowler. In addition to meeting Lavelle for the first time, Collider says we’ll also see Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones as the kid’s mother. Meanwhile, KiKi Layne will be playing Akeem’s daughter Layne, who has apparently felt like she’s always been treated like the son that her father never had. That’s likely to create some familial tension when Akeem finds out that he actually has a son in Queens.

Collider’s report also notes that Eddie Murphy may be playing multiple characters in Coming 2 America, just as he and Arsenio Hall did in the original movie. We’re not sure if any of the other characters from the first movie will make an appearance again, but one of the potential characters Murphy could also play may be an African general who wants to kill Prince Akeem then marry his own daughter to Zamunda’s next heir, Lavelle, all so he can gain power over Zamunda. But this is where things get confusing.

Yesterday’s report of Wesley Snipes joining the cast indicated that he would be playing General Izzi, a man who rules the neighboring nation to Akeem’s fictional wealthy African nation of Zamunda. Could these be the same characters and some wires got crossed somewhere? We’re betting so. Either way, it seems the character of General Izzi likely ties back into the original movie, since it was the character Colonel Izzi who presented his daughter as a bride to Akeem, only to have the wedding halted so he could go to Queens in search of a wife who he actually loved and connected with. That likely created bad blood between the families, and this General Izzi character could easily be colonel’s son, looking for some kind of revenge.

Other new cast members include singer Teyana Taylor, rapper Rick Ross, and comedian Michael Blackson, though their roles have yet to be confirmed. But Coming 2 America will also bring back the familiar faces of Louie Anderson, who played the McDowell’s employee Maurice (who should at least be an assistant manager there by now), and Paul Bates as Akeem’s manservant and bodyguard Oha.

There’s no word on whether we’ll see Shari Headley back as Akeem’s queen Lisa McDowell. If she’s still around, we’re betting she’s not too happy about this son Akeem never knew about. In fact, I’m wondering how that even happened since Akeem was never too keen on soiling his royal oats before getting married, and he didn’t have any womanizing or adulterous tendencies. If Lisa isn’t involved in the story, then it’s likely we won’t see John Amos as her father Cleo or Allison Dean as her sister Patrice. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Coming 2 America, directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) and written by Kenya Barris (Black-ish) is slated to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2020.

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