Update: Paul Scheer's team have reached out to us to explain that he misspoke and this is not accurate. Original article is as follows.
According to Paul Scheer, Don Cheadle will be playing the villain in the upcoming Space Jam 2. Scheer, best known for playing Andre on The League, is privy to the insider information as he co-stars with Cheadle on Black Monday. Cheadle, who has appeared in many huge movies over the years from Avengers: Endgame to Hotel Rwanda, has long been announced as part of the Space Jam sequel's cast, but his role had never been confirmed. He is one of only two high profile actors in the cast alongside Sonequa Martin-Green of Star Trek: Discovery and The Walking Dead fame.
Space Jam 2 has had quite a bit of trouble getting the ball rolling. It was originally slated to begin development while LeBron James was still a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers but it was significantly delayed, in part due to Lebron's busy schedule. This is also ended up costing the movie its original director, Justin Lin. Lin was later replaced by Terence Nance, who then left the project over creative differences and was replaced by Girls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee. On top of that, the movie struggled to recreate the originals' lineup of NBA stars, reportedly due to conflicting shoe deals and, according to Brian Windhorst, players' desire to not get dunked on by LeBron. The movie did, however, finally manage to land LeBron's Lakers co-star, Anthony Davis alongside Klay Thompson, Damian Lilliard, and WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike.
Scheer leaked the news while discussing Blake Griffin's acting quality on The Athletic's Clip City podcast (per Silver Screen & Roll) saying that, "Actually Don Cheadle, who I do Black Monday with, he's the bad guy in Space Jam, and he said LeBron's really great. He was great in Trainwreck, too."
Scheer is correct that LeBron has flexed some serious acting chops before. He was far and away the best part of Trainwreck where he displayed comic timing that rivaled SNL veteran Bill Hader's. It was that performance that sold many on the idea of him rebooting Michael Jordan's beloved 90's classic, maybe even Jordan himself who famously preferred Blake Griffin for the role.
The reveal of Cheadle's casting makes a good amount of sense. With so few high profile actors in the movie, it tracks that Cheadle would be best utilized as the movie's heavy rather than as a Bill Murray-like sidekick. Since the movie is reportedly a reboot rather than a sequel it seems likely that Cheadle will be playing the leader of the new Monstars, and could potentially have a much larger role in the plot than Danny DeVito's villain did in the original. Since Space Jam 2 has not been delayed yet, fans can still expect to see the full extent of Cheadle's role when the movie hits theaters in June of 2021.
Sources: Clip City, Silver Screen & Roll