Space Jam: A New Legacy has promised to break through various Warner Bros. universes to have the most exclusive cameos in the upcoming movie. Some of the new photos released by DiscussingFilms add new names to the guest list: DC Universe, Mad Max, The Matrix and Austin Powers.
To break it down:
Road Runner is captured dashing off to a background of Mad Max: Fury Road.
Catch granny in The Matrix themed latex outfit fighting a live-action policeman.
Elmer Fudd dressed and posed like Dr Evil from Austin Powers.
And of course, the easiest to recognise – an animated LeBron James and Bugs Bunny in the custom of Robin and Batman respectively.
Confused as to why, or more importantly, how Space Jam 2 has a key into these different franchises? This is easily explained in its April 2021 trailer:
In the standalone sequel to Space Jam (1996), after having a disagreement with his son Dom, LeBron James finds the two of them trapped in the Warner Bros. 3000 Entertainment Server-Verse.
The bumpy ride landing into their first encounter with the film’s antagonist AI-G Rhythm, has us all course through the different worlds of Harry Potter, Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, King Kong, Game of Thrones and more – sometimes too quick for us to even catch the reference.
Of course, the rogue AI-G Rhythm sends off the father-son duo to the Looney Tunes world, with whom they have to team up to win a basketball match against the goons, if they want to return to their own world again.
A lot of thought has been put into the countless cameos in Space Jam 2. For example, Space Jam 2 shows Lola Bunny’s reluctance to return to the Looney Team, after having joined Wonder Woman’s Amazonians in the aftermath of the first Space Jam movie.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly this is one of the reasons stated for director Malcolm D Lee’s decision:
This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters
Malcolm D Lee
But beyond a simple mention of larger DC franchises like Wonder Woman and Batman, the crossovers in Space Jam 2 are not only Easter Eggs meant to delight and incite nostalgia, but also point to Warner Bros’ ever-growing efforts of cementing the DCEU multiverse strategy.
Not all are happy with this decision – Fans think that showing off the DC properties in the new Space Jam movie can be rather off-putting as well.
Other appearances, especially of older Warner Bros franchises could also point to either reviving enthusiasm for the movies of the past – which may lead to an increase in streaming them on HBO Max. Or, even monitoring fan reception that could jumpstart soft-reboots.
Well, with so many of our favorites on screen in one single movie, we better keep our eyes peeled.
Space Jam: A New Legacy will release on July 16 in theatres and for a limited streaming duration of a month on HBO Max.
About Space Jam: A New Legacy (Space Jam 2)
Space Jam: A New Legacy (also known as Space Jam 2) is an upcoming American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, from a screenplay by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, and Terence Nance.
The film is a sequel to Space Jam (1996) and stars basketball player LeBron James, as well as Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe. The film also features the Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Tweety, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, and Lola Bunny.
Like the previous hybrid films, it will be a combination of live-action and traditional hand drawn 2D animation with some CGI effects
Basketball champion and global icon LeBron James and his young son Dom (Cedric Joe) – who dreams of being a video game developer rather than follow his father’s footsteps – find themselves trapped in Serververse, a virtual space ruled by a rogue A.I. named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle).
LeBron must save his son and get them home safe by leading Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to win a basketball match against Al-G’s digitized champions on the court, the Goon Squad.
Source: Twitter
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