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After a long, long wait, Warner Bros. finally dropped the first trailer for the much-anticipated “Space Jam: A New Legacy” — starring Lakers forward LeBron James — on Saturday, and for anyone that needed a dose of nostalgia for the original with some much flashier new visuals, it is exactly what the doctor ordered:
LeBron flying through Westeros from Game of Thrones? The Iron Giant? Yosemite Sam accidentally murdering Daffy Duck? Don Cheadle? This trailer has it all, and is positively brimming with little easter eggs, just like the movie itself surely will be:
From the New #SpaceJam trailer lol this is awesome! #GOT Night King & White Walkers appearance ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/SkHqZBPyJ5
— GoldenKnightⒸ (@GoldenKnightGFX) April 3, 2021
Pennywise AND Scooby-Doo?! @spacejammovie knows me so well. pic.twitter.com/Ly3IQKO6Qp
— Deanna Chapman (@deeechap) April 3, 2021
But my favorite part? Easily Lola Bunny channeling her inner Dwyane Wade on a lob to LeBron.
Who did it better?
Still a top 3 hoop pic all time. pic.twitter.com/cbJ8dbpeQ5
— Wells P (@Wells_P) May 21, 2018
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And of course — just like they were when the first clip dropped a few months ago — because this is NBA Twitter, people were ready to meme the hell out of this thing:
*NBA player unhappy with his team
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) April 3, 2021
LeBron: pic.twitter.com/rkrH5DmarZ
The 2007 NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/CH53Wfj6gz
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 3, 2021
Your so called "King James" is trying to recruit the REAL King, KING KONG to save his legacy again Shannon.
— corporate communist Matthias (tone setter) (@KryzivenTake2) April 3, 2021
Michael Jeffrey Jordan never needed this much help against the Monstars pic.twitter.com/re4WrNXVSq
This squad horrible man. Why is Bugs letting him GM? pic.twitter.com/pGjSZhCfiQ
— Foul Qwan & Windsor Shoulder (@YoungQwan) April 3, 2021
— Josh Toussaint (@josh2saint) April 3, 2021
And in another twist on the original, it appears the NBA and WNBA stars whose talents have been stolen by “The Goon Squad” for this sequel are CG monsters based on the players’ skillset and appearance. So yes, LeBron literally turned Anthony Davis into a Pelicans-inspired unibrowed, CGI Sam Wilson/Falcon knock-off and I cannot stop laughing:
You think this is why Bron calls AD “Big Bird”? pic.twitter.com/u0Xu9CxtVy
— Esfandiar | Darth Es (@JustEsBaraheni) April 3, 2021
And he appears to have set Klay Thompson on fire? No wonder he’s out right now. That’s what we call method acting:
I was looking for Klay in the Space Jam trailer and is this...??? pic.twitter.com/69yo4cHPEn
— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) April 3, 2021
Meanwhile, Diana Taurasi will be living up to her Mamba DNA:
on the court vs. in the lobby pic.twitter.com/zq64vKV0Cu
— Matt Ellentuck (@mellentuck) April 3, 2021
And of course, some TAMPERING:
LeBron turned Dame into a guy made up of purple-and-gold for his movie? #Tampering https://t.co/K7ZFLPni7S
— Donny (@donny_mchenry) April 3, 2021
Here are a few more high quality images, courtesy of WB:
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This is just one trailer, but it’s also hard not to look at the production value going into this and James actually having some level of acting ability and think it’s not going to top the original film.
We’ll find out for sure when the movie premieres in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16. Until then? If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go watch the trailer on a loop and try and find some more memeable moments from it.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.