Zendaya has joined the cast of “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and is set to voice fan favorite “Looney Tunes” character Lola Bunny alongside LeBron James.
The news was announced Saturday by the film’s Twitter account after Entertainment Weekly broke the news. The “Space Jam” sequel also released its first trailer Saturday, which gave a brief look at the character returning to the franchise after the original film.
Zendaya taking on Lola Bunny is part of director Malcolm D. Lee’s aim to introduce a more “fully realized” character to the franchise rather than the sexualized version of the character from the 1996 film.
“Lola was not politically correct,” Lee previously told EW. “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.”
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” reinvents the ’90s film starring Michael Jordan in a number of ways. This time James plays a heightened version of himself who has to rescue his son after he’s pulled into a virtual server controlled by an A.I. villain named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). James then recruits the Looney Tunes to play together as the Tune Squad and take down the Goon Squad in an epic basketball game. Along the way, James gets stuck inside the Warner 3000 Entertainment “Server-Verse,” which shows the film poking fun at other WarnerMedia-owned classics and on Saturday has earned the film comparisons to the film adaptation of “Ready Player One.”
Beyond LeBron, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” boasts a powerful roster — “Girls Trip” director Malcolm D. Lee is directing the film, and “Black Panther’s” Ryan Coogler is a producer. And you may find a few other current NBA and WNBA stars lurking in the film as well.
Zendaya most recently starred in the Netflix film “Malcolm & Marie” from her “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson, and she’ll next be seen in another Warner Bros. movie, “Dune,” and the third “Spider-Man” film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
“Space Jam: A New Legacy” opens in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16.
Welcome to the Jam, @Zendaya 🏀 https://t.co/BAp4UZuwkf pic.twitter.com/Z9wYts9IFp
— Space Jam: A New Legacy (@spacejammovie) April 3, 2021