Space Jam: A New Legacy Casts Zendaya as Lola Bunny

Zendaya plays Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy. LeBron James has long been thought to be the perfect choice to follow in Michael Jordan’s shoes and reboot Space Jam for a new generation. Warner Bros. and LeBron finally got the new Space Jam movie off the ground in recent years, but it is not a true sequel or reboot of the original. In fact, all signs point to Space Jam: A New Legacy holding several differences from the 1996 childhood favorite film of many. It will still see a current NBA star team up with the Looney Tunes, but the setting and plot are very different.

The first trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy provided the best look yet at what the movie will offer. The story follows LeBron James entering the Warner Bros. content library to save his son from the A.I. (voiced by Don Cheadle) who controls the space. Space Jam: A New Legacy replaced the Monstars with the Goon Squad, features cameos from some of WB’s biggest movies and TV shows, and updated the character designs of the Looney Tunes to animate them in 3D. Even though it was expected that original Looney Tunes voice actors would continue in their roles, it appears at least one major character has been recast.

A new report from EW exclusively reveals Zendaya will voice Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy. Zendaya is one of Hollywood’s rising stars after appearing as Michelle in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. She’s also recently starred in HBO’s Euphoria and delivered a great performance in Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie. She’ll take over the role from Kath Soucie, who has voiced Lola Bunny ins several past Looney Tunes projects, including the original Space Jam.

It isn’t clear why Warner Bros. elected to recast Lola Bunny with Zendaya, but it is a move that could be part of how Space Jam: A New Legacy is reimagining the character. Director Malcolm D. Lee explained the decision to give Lola Bunny a new look in an effort to avoid the oversexualized depiction from before. He also spoke about the hope to make Lola a more well-rounded character and teammate for LeBron.

Zendaya should be an excellent choice to voice the new Lola Bunny and imbue the character with the strength those involved want from her. This isn’t the first time Zendaya and LeBron worked together either. Both of them voiced characters in the Warner Bros. animated movie Smallfoot, and their characters even appear to have a cameo in Space Jam 2. Zendaya is also massively popular with younger audiences, so her involvement could increase appeal in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Source: EW

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Cooper Hood
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Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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