In Space Jam: A New Legacy, Lola Bunny has found some new, powerful friends in an unexpected place: The Wonder Woman universe.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Malcolm D. Lee says that Lola Bunny will initially appear in A New Legacy hanging out with the Amazons from Wonder Woman, just one of multiple WB film property worlds that will be on display in the new Space Jam story. Lola will initially be reluctant to rejoin her old basketball team despite being their best player.
“We wanted to meet her with the Amazons, trying to find greener pastures for herself,” said Lee. “As she says in the movie, there’s more to her than just being a Tune.”
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This comes as part of a larger move to reconsider Lola’s character after two and a half decades, with Lee also saying he wants to make her less defined by her sexuality, as she was in the original film.
“This is 2021,” he said. “It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters. [Lola] probably has the most human characteristics of the Tunes; she doesn’t have a thing like a carrot or a lisp or a stutter. So we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice.
“For us, it was, let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.”
Space Jam: A New Legacy just saw its first images revealed earlier this week, including LeBron James in action as well as a 3D animated Bugs Bunny. It’s planned for a simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max and in theatres on July 16.
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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Source: IGN.com Lola Bunny Lives in the World of Wonder Woman in Space Jam: A New Legacy