Uniting the Tune Squad in Space Jam: A New Legacy took LeBron James and Bugs Bunny on an adventure across the worlds of several different Warner Bros. franchises. Early in the movie, it was revealed that Looney Tune Land was no longer the place of residence for Bugs Bunny’s cartoon family. Most were relocated to new worlds in the Serververse by Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle).
The existence of the Serververse gave Space Jam: A New Legacy one of the movie’s biggest selling points, which is the inclusion of numerous Warner Bros. characters from outside the Looney Tunes brand. It was explained in the movie that the Serververse is a virtual reality created by Warner Bros. which houses dozens of its movie and TV franchises. That’s why the big game’s audience was so diverse. By encompassing so many worlds, it was possible for the match between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad to be observed by hundreds of Warner Bros. heroes and villains both well-known and obscure, including Batman, Jabberjaw, Pennywise the Clown, King Kong, the Iron Giant, the Jetsons, and more. The scope of the Serververse amazed James, who noted that even the Harry Potter movies are a part of it.
Some of the Serververse’s worlds were actually visited by the movie’s main characters, albeit only briefly. Doing so was necessary for Bugs Bunny and LeBron James to put a team together for the game against Al-G Rhythm. While James was hoping to recruit heavyweights like Superman and King Kong, it turned out that Bugs Bunny was more interesting in pursuing the Tunes, who were lured away from their home and split up by Al-G Rhythm, leaving Bugs Bunny alone in Looney Tune land. Using Marvin the Martian’s stolen spaceship, the two set out on a journey to pick up all 13 missing members of Bugs’ Looney Tunes family. Here’s every world they had to visit to get them back, and where each character was living.
DC Universe
Dressed as Batman and Robin respectively, Bugs Bunny and LeBron James arrived in Metropolis in the DC Universe, where they found Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. In a homage to the classic Looney Tunes short where Daffy tried to protect the planet as Super Duck, the character once again donned Superman’s classic red, yellow, and blue tights. This time, Daffy’s goal was to earn a seat on the Justice League by hijacking a train (with Porky Pig’s help) and making himself look like the hero who saved everyone from harm. Daffy nearly caused a crash, but fortunately, the real Superman arrived to clean up his mess. Seen by his side were Batgirl, Aquaman, John Stewart’s Green Lantern, and The Flash. Seeing that he was about to be in serious trouble with the Justice League, Daffy hurriedly agreed to join Bugs’ team.
Bugs, James, Daffy, and Porky departed the DC Universe after the trip to Metropolis, but James’ disappointment with the state of the team eventually brought them to a different corner of Superman and Batman’s world. Since James was insistent on having at least one real basketball player on the team, Bugs took the group to Themyscira, the island of the Amazons. When they showed up, Wonder Woman was presenting Lola Bunny with the Olympic-style Amazon test from Wonder Woman 1984. Against a backdrop of music from the movies, Lola was on her way to passing the test but gave up winning to save Bugs and James, who had accidentally fallen in pursuit of her. In recognition of her heroic action, Wonder Woman officially made Lola one of the Amazons.
Mad Max
Space Jam: A New Legacy reimagined Wile E. Coyote as one of the War Boys in the Mad Max franchise. Complete with a post-apocalyptic design that brought him in line with the franchise’s villains, Wile E. Coyote was seen on the hunt for Road Runner in the desert, until he abruptly crashed into Bugs’ and James’ vehicle.
Austin Powers
The third stop was the Austin Powers universe. Through footage from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Space Jam 2 changed the scene that introduced Mini-Me by humorously swapping the character with Elmer Fudd. Also present was a hairless Sylvester, who had taken the role of Dr. Evil’s bald cat, Mr. Bigglesworth. After taking both characters aboard Marvin’s ship, Daffy inquired about the absence of Tweety, who was then coughed up by Sylvester. It would seem that the cat swallowed him some time ago, possibly while trapped in the Austin Powers world.
Casablanca
One of many memorable moments in 1943’s Casablanca was when Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) said “sing it, Sam,” in reference to the song that was forbidden from being played in Rick’s café. Space Jam 2 made use of this scene, but it wasn’t Dooley Wilson’s Sam that Ilsa was speaking to in this version. Instead, the person sitting on the bench playing the piano was revealed to be Yosemite Sam, who when then plucked from Rick’s café and brought onto Marvin’s ship. It’s worth noting that this isn’t actually the first time that the Looney Tunes characters have spoofed Casablanca. In 1995, Warner Bros. released a short titled “Carrotblanca” that handed Rick’s role to Bugs Bunny.
Rick & Morty
Before Bugs and the others could head anywhere else, Taz faceplanted himself on one of the ship’s windows. He was apparently being returned by the titular protagonists of Adult Swim’s animated sitcom, Rick & Morty. The two explained that they tried doing tests on “the badger thing,” but his condition was “irreversible,” so they gave up.
Game of Thrones
Despite being one of the darkest universes in Warner Bros’ library and a rather odd fit for Space Jam 2 representation, Game of Thrones was on the list of worlds the Tunes had to visit so that they could reunite the old group. Riding a dragon and dressed like Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys was Foghorn Leghorn, who shouted “winter is coming,” a phrase made famous by the HBO fantasy series.
The Matrix
Among the last characters recruited for Bugs Bunny and James’ Tune Squad in Space Jam: A New Legacy were Granny and Speedy Gonzalez, who surprisingly fit perfectly into The Matrix universe. Building off Speedy’s reputation as the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, Space Jam 2 recreated Neo’s bullet-dodging scene, with Speedy declaring “Neo ain’t got nothing on me, bro.” The same sequence featured a Trinity-inspired action stunt where Granny executed a flying kick on an opponent. The two were then joined by Bugs and James, with the latter being carefully concealed in shadows in such a way that made him look similar to Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus.