Up until roughly 48 hours ago, Space Jam: A New Legacy was nothing more than the mega budget $160 million sequel to a beloved film that’s endured as a firm favorite among a certain generation for a quarter of a century. The combination of nostalgia, splashy modern visual effects and recognizable global superstar LeBron James have set the second installment up to find a much bigger audience, too, especially when it’s available to stream on HBO Max from day one on July 16th.
However, in a bizarre turn of events that’s summed up how unpredictable the last twelve months have been in any walk of life, A New Legacy has now found itself in the middle of the cancel culture conversation after a cartoon skunk was dropped from the movie thanks to him facing allegations of glorifying rape culture, while people also decided that Lola Bunny wasn’t sexy enough anymore, which is all sorts of insane.
This time last week, nobody gave a sh*t about Pepé Le Pew, but he’s been trending online as furious Looney Tunes enthusiasts who have suddenly all come crawling out of the woodwork blast Warner Bros. from leaving him out of A New Legacy, even though the plans to drop his one and only scene were formalized in the summer of 2019, and nobody cared back then.
As for Lola Bunny, that’s an altogether weirder scenario, but the gist is that a certain section of social media users were upset that the cartoon character had been given an updated and de-sexualized design. Even the cast has gotten in on the cancel culture storm, with Gabriel Iglesias wondering if he’ll be attacked for voicing Speedy Gonzalez, another Looney Tune that some people find offensive.
I am the voice of Speedy Gonzales in the new Space Jam. Does this mean they are gonna try to cancel Fluffy too? U can’t catch me cancel culture. I’m the fastest mouse in all of Mexico 💨 pic.twitter.com/Ov4wjO00kM
— G a b r i e l – I g l e s i a s (@fluffyguy) March 7, 2021
Of course, the whole thing is more than likely going to blow over by the time Space Jam: A New Legacy hits theaters, when we can all hopefully look back and examine how ridiculous the commotion was. But for now, the film remains very much in the crosshairs of cancel culture.
