Space Jam 2’s First Movie Callback Shows How Different LeBron’s Version Is

The Space Jam 2 trailer offers a sneak peek at the difference between the LeBron James update and the Michael Jordan original. The new film is slated for release on July 16, 2021 and is the culmination of years of fan anticipation and film production. As with any reboot, Space Jam: A New Legacy is tasked with striking a difficult balance: keeping the most beloved aspects of the classic movie while adding updated takes on the outdated bits.

The original Space Jam, which starred legendary basketball player Michael Jordan, is to this day a beloved childhood treasure to the Millennial generation. Released in 1996, it is fair to say that a large number of kids born in the 90s and early aughts grew up watching the film. It was the ultimate cultural crossover, taking familiar Looney Tunes characters and combining their wit with real-life sports hero, Michael Jordan. The film capitalized on Jordan’s immense worldwide popularity at the time, and its staying power on television serves as evidence of just how big Jordan was in the ’90s.

LeBron James, arguably Jordan’s successor in terms of basketball, is aware of the much-debated Jordan-James comparisons. As such, the Space Jam 2 trailer does contain a comical callback to an iconic Jordan moment from the first film. The scene in the original Space Jam saw Jordan deliver the game-winning slam dunk for the Tune Squad by stretching his shooting hand over nearly the entire length of the basketball court. In the new trailer, James mimics Jordan’s cartoonish reach (without CGI arm distortion), only in his case, he cramps up and misses the shot. This was the film’s clever way of indicating that James is not going to live up to the Jordan standard with this film. As with his actual basketball career, he is going to make a unique legacy with Space Jam — in his own way.

But this scene isn’t the only major difference from the first Space Jam. Based on what was shown, it seems that a central conflict of the film will not only be beating the antagonist basketball team but of James repairing his relationship with his son. Ironically, his son says to him in the trailer that James is trying to make him fit his father’s expectations of him, rather than allowing him to do things his own way. This will likely be a theme for the movie, the idea that forcing two things to be the same simply because they are related (by blood, profession, or accomplishments) is foolish, even harmful: hence, “a new legacy.”

Just as Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes got a makeover in the new trailer, Space Jam: A New Legacy must also change the franchise with the times. The creators of the film know that many adult fans of the original will be watching it. Although it will certainly still be marketed to the kids of today, children’s animated films have also matured intelligently in the last two decades, aiming to teach kids more complex life lessons. Space Jam 2 must build on the foundation of the first by having an emotional depth that the Jordan version lacked.

In the trailer, it appears that James is putting more effort into acting, rather than simply being himself on camera reciting short lines as his predecessor did. This tonal shift is necessary because Space Jam’s audience has matured. Millennials feel a tender connection to the sequel because it signifies a growing up alongside the franchise. Consider the fact that Zendaya, who voices Lola Bunny in A New Legacy, was born the same year of the first Space Jam’s release. Now, 25 years later, she and so many other fans get to be a part of Space Jam’s full circle moment in the form of James’ sequel. In the Space Jam 2 trailer, LeBron James is proving that things may never be the way they were again, but perhaps that fact may be for the better.