This is the Tune Squad vs the Goon Squad in Space Jam: A New Legacy Trailer

NBA basketball star LeBron James and a team of Looney Tunes animated characters must win a virtual basketball game against the digitized champions of an evil AI in Space Jam: A New Legacy, a sequel to the 1996 film, Space jam. With its blend of live action and animation, the original became one of the most iconic films of the nineties. In the following, the basic concept for the virtual era is updated to create what looks like a cross between each other The LEGO movie (and LEGO Movie 2) en Ready Player One, with a shot TRON for good measure.

(Some spoilers for the original movie below,)

Space jam is basically a fictional account of NBA superstar Michael Jordan’s return to basketball in 1995 after retiring in 1993 to play baseball. (It’s inspired by some Nike ads.) In the movie, Jordan falls into the Looney Tunes animated world to help the so-called “Tune Squad” – all the most popular animated Looney Tunes characters – win a basketball game against ‘ a group of addicted strangers called the Nerdlucks. In addition to Jordan, NBA players Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues also make cameos. (The aliens steal the latter five’s talents to turn themselves into formidable opponents.)

Space jam received mixed reviews, but it was a hit at the box office and earned more than $ 230 million worldwide, and over the years it became a cult favorite, especially for those who were young in the nineties. Warner Bros. made several attempts over the years to make a sequel and eventually appointed Malcolm D. Lee to direct (replacing Terence Nance, who left in 2019 due to creative differences) when it revived the project in 2018.

According to the official summary:

This transformation journey is a manic mashup of two worlds that reveals how far some parents go to connect their children. When LeBron and his young son Dom are trapped in a digital space by a rogue AI, LeBron must bring them home safely by leading Bugs, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of infamous undisciplined Looney Tunes to a victory over the digitized champions of the AI on the court: a capable range of professional basketball stars like you’ve never seen before. It’s Tunes versus Goons in the biggest challenge of his life, redefining LeBron’s bond with his son and shedding a light on the power to be yourself. The ready-for-action Tunes are destroying convention, complementing their unique talents and even surprising ‘King’ James by playing the game in their own way.

Don Cheadle plays AI-G Rhythm, the aforementioned rogue AI, with Cedric Joe playing Dom, LeBron’s youngest son. And once again, several NBA players appear: Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Draymond Green and Kyle Kuzma. (There are also rumors of WNBA players Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike.)

Eagle-eyed viewers will not only notice classic Looney Tunes characters in the trailer – including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn – but also characters from other franchises (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz, Hanna-Barbera) and several other pop culture icons. I saw Pennywise It, Mr. Freeze van Batman and Robin, the Iron Giant, the agents of The Matrix, the Flintstones, King Kong, the Mystery Machine of Scooby Doo, the war boys of Mal Max, the thugs of ‘N Clockwork Orange, and even a nod to Betty Davis in Whatever happened to Baby Jane?

The online reaction to the trailer was a bit mixed, with many people delighting all the hidden beloved characters from their childhoods, and other more convoluted types that the Warner Bros. had. considered creative deficit. it’s true that recording a movie with different licensed characters as visual Easter eggs is one of the best things for the studio of late – especially both LEGO films and the 2018 adaptation of Ready player one.

I do not really have a dog in this fight, but it strikes me as a pretty silly critique in this era of multi-character shared universe franchises, especially since Space jam probably did it first. Space Jam: A New LegacIt may not be your jam, but I predict it will find a large target audience looking for family-friendly rates – especially since more of the country is emerging this summer from pandemic restrictions (thumbs up).

Space Jam: A New Legacy premieres simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16, 2021.

Advertising image by YouTube / Warner Bros.