LeBron James almost wore a suit of Game of Thrones armor in Space Jam 2. The long-awaited sequel to 1998’s Space Jam finally arrived last month and despite brutal reviews has thus far grossed $122 million at the box office while simultaneously being streamed on HBO Max.
The second Space Jam is of course called Space Jam: A New Legacy for a good reason - it stars current NBA superstar James instead of the original movie’s star Michael Jordan (the only Jordan in the new movie is Michael B. Jordan). A New Legacy does bring back Space Jam stars the Looney Tunes, who get new 3D renderings for the movie’s big basketball showdown sequence. In addition to the NBA stars and familiar WB cartoon characters featured in the movie, Space Jam: A New Legacy also introduces the gimmick of the WB Serververse, which allows for cameos from a vast array of characters whose rights are owned by WarnerMedia. Eagle-eyed Game of Thrones fans certainly noted the presence of Drogon and the Night King, both of whom made the trip from Westeros to watch James and his Toon Squad battle Al G. Rhythm and his Goon Squad in video game hoops (with nothing less than the fate of all humanity on the line).
As it turns out Space Jam: A New Legacy almost had an even bigger connection to HBO and WarnerMedia’s Game of Thrones. As revealed by THR, costume designer Melissa Bruning made an entire suit of GoT armor for James to wear in the movie. Unfortunately the costume didn’t make it into the finished film. See James wearing his unused GoT armor in an image in the space below:
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James may not have gotten to dress up like a warrior from Game of Thrones but he did get to sport several other costumes during his interactions with characters from the Serververse. At one point in Space Jam: A New Legacy he is decked out in a full Matrix costume, while at another point he wears a vintage suit from Casablanca. In yet another sequence he puts on a Mad Max costume and sports a mohawk. Had James made it into the movie in his full GoT costume, he would've joined NFL star Aaron Rodgers on the short list of pro athletes who've received the honor of briefly playing in the Game of Thrones sandbox.
No explanation was offered by costume designer Bruning for why the Game of Thrones costume was ultimately cut from the movie but she did say she “cried a little inside” when it didn’t make it in. Given how overstuffed Space Jam: A New Legacy already is, it’s likely the decision was made to scale back the Game of Thrones connection for the sake of running time (James does interact directly with certain areas of the Serververse, diving straight into the worlds of The Matrix and Mad Max: Fury Road, while other tie-ins like Austin Powers and GoT go by without James really participating). Indeed, at times the movie simply feels like a big advertisement for WarnerMedia’s catalog, with the cameo characters having no impact on the actual story. Some of these cameos, like the ones from Mad Max’s War Boys and A Clockwork Orange’s Droogs, are actually quite jarring. Perhaps it would’ve been fun to see James put on armor and interact more with the world of Game of Thrones, but Space Jam 2 is certainly full enough as it is.
Source: THR/Twitter