Basketball superstar Lebron James is set to take over the mantle of leading the Tune Squad in defeating another formidable but “villainy” hoops team in the Warner cartoon world after Michael Jordan did us the favor some 25 years ago.
Leading up to the summer premiere of Space Jam: A New Legacy, the first exclusive photos of the movie have been released, giving us a tiny glimpse of what to expect when the sequel finally hits our screens.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly to discuss the highly anticipated project, James, who is starring as the movie’s lead character, said the square-off against the Goon Squad with his Looney Tunes teammates, is probably the biggest match he has ever played.
“It’s one of the biggest games, if not the biggest game, I’ve ever played in,” the Los Angeles Lakers star said. “The Goon Squad is probably the best team ever assembled in basketball history.”
In the first installment of the movie, Bugs Bunny drags Michael Jordan into the Warner cartoon world and manages to convince the basketball star to help him and his other Looney Tune characters in defeating the Monstars in a basketball game. Initially thinking the Monstars, a team of minions, would be easily defeated due to their size, the Looney Tunes realize they have a huge mountain to climb after their opponents gain extraordinary powers after stealing the abilities of basketball stars including Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues.
For Space Jam: A New Legacy, James sets out to rescue his son – a video game developer – after he is kidnapped by a CGI humanoid by the name Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). Trapped in a “Server-sense”, James recruits the Looney Tunes and forms a basketball team to play against Al G Rhythm’s Goon Squad in an effort to get his son to safety and escape the virtual reality, according to Entertainment Weekly.
The movie, which is produced by the NBA champion and directed by Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler, will also feature appearances from other basketball stars including Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, Kyle Kuzma, Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike.
Our favorite Tune Squad characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Lola Bunny and Tweety will also be featuring in the movie. Though James initially turned down an offer to star in the movie sequel 15 years ago, the four-time NBA champion said it was worth the wait.
“In my younger days, part of my thinking was ‘Space Jam was so good, how can I top this?,’” he said. “There’s always going to be conversations about LeBron trying to do everything Michael [did]. But I’ve gotten older, and you know who you are. You know what you stand for.”
Take a look at the photos that were obtained by Entertainment Weekly below:
