As we’re quickly learning,Space Jam 2is shaping up to be a much bigger event than simply just a sequel to the Michael Jordan fronted animated family outing from 1996. No, instead the movie will be something a Warner-verse adventure, with some recent information about Lola Bunny revealing that we will even see some DC heroes popping up, with the basketball-loving rabbit living on Themiscyra withWonder Womanand The Amazons.
“We wanted to meet her with theAmazons, trying to find greener pastures for herself. As she says in the movie, there’s more to her than just being a Tune.”
It sounds likeLola Bunnywill go through something of a transformation inSpace Jam: A New Legacy, with director Malcolm D. Lee revealing that Lola’s reintroduction will begin in the world ofWonder Womanand pick up with Lola having branched out on her own. The character will also be reluctant to be pulled back in by her old team, and, chiefly, Bugs Bunny, having forged her own identity away from the rest of the Tunes.
Lola Bunny was created for the firstSpace Jam, with the female rabbit and talented basketball player assisting legendary sport star Michael Jordan and her other Looney Tunes pals in defeating the MonStars. For the sequel, the character has undergone a redesign that has proven to be controversial, with the director being taken aback by her “very sexualized” appearance from the original movie. “Lola [Bunny] was very sexualized, like Betty Boop mixed with Jessica Rabbit,” Lee said of the need for change. “Lola was not politically correct…. This is a kids' movie, why is she in a crop top? It just felt unnecessary, but at the same time there’s a long history of that in cartoons. This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters.”
To rectify this, Lola’s feminine qualities have been dialled down in order to make her “feminine without being objectified,” something which has quiet surprisingly been met with a lot of criticism from those who wish to ogle at a cartoon bunny rabbit.
Putting Lola Bunny amongst Diana Prince and the rest of The Amazons onThemyscirafits well with what Lee clearly intends to do with the character in theSpace Jamfollow-up, and once again confirms that the movie will feature a lot more beloved Warner Bros. characters than the first movie did.Space Jam: A New Legacywill reportedly feature all manner of Warner properties, including the likes ofBatmanandKing Kong, after basketball champion and global icon, LeBron James, and his young son, Dom (Cedric Joe), become trapped in a virtual space by a rogue algorithm named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). LeBron must get them home safe by leading Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplinedLooney Tunesto victory over the Al-G’s digitized champions on the court.
Space Jam: A New Legacyis scheduled to be released theatrically and on HBO Max in the United States on August 17, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures. This comes to us fromEntertainment Weekly.
