While Space Jam: A New Legacy rebooted the Space Jam franchise, many fans still look at the original 1996 movie as the best. With Michael Jordan, arguably the most famous athlete in the world, partnering with the equally iconic Looney Tunes, this movie became a classic family-friendly adventure for the '90s. It mixed lovable characters, high-profile athletes, a fun story, and some ridiculous Easter eggs to make a movie that all ages could enjoy. 1v2i

The Looney Tunes are a massive part of pop culture history but have a complicated history in movies. The Warner Bros. characters debuted in 1930, appearing in shorts engineered to sell the studio's music. In the mid-30s, directors such as Chuck Jones and Tex Avery would help transform the characters into the iconic figures audiences know and love today. These are the creators of the long-suffering Daffy Duck, the stuttering Porky Pig, the single-minded Elmer Fudd, hungry Sylvester, adorable Tweety Bird, and of course the smart-aleck ringleader of them all, Bugs Bunny.

Nearly 30 years after it was released in theaters, Space Jam is still finding new fans and nostalgic fans on streaming. The wild and bizarre live-action/animation hybrid stars basketball legend Michael Jordan as himself as he is dragged into the cartoon world by none other than Bugs Bunny. Bugs and the rest of the Looney Tunes are seeking help to take on a bunch of nefarious aliens in a basketball game. What ensues is a hilarious and wacky all-ages adventure with all the iconic Looney Tunes as well as cameos from basketball superstars and even Bill Murray.

Years after flopping at the box office, Space Jam: A New Legacy climbs onto Netflix's Top 10 movies chart. The 2021 movie was the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 original Space Jam. It follows LeBron James and his young son Dom (Cedric Joe), who are sucked into a digital realm and forced to team up with the Looney Tunes for a basketball game against an evil AI's avatars. Upon its release, the movie was considered a critical and commercial disappointment. However, it has been making a comeback on Netflix.

Even though this summer's big releases promise to transport audiences back to another era in Blonde and Don't Worry Darling, both use their darker themes to avoid ever relying on nostalgia to win over the viewer. Not every movie has managed to avoid this accusation, with some arguing that movies like The Artist and Ready Player One would be a lot lower-rated if not for it.

A set of leaked MultiVersus skins includes Space Jam: A New Legacy uniforms, LeBron James as Robin and more. The free-to-play crossover brawler features a vast roster of Warner Bros. icons, with each being fully voiced and possessing a lineup of alternate costumes to collect. MultiVersus contains LeBron James as a playable fighter, based on his appearance in 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy, and according to leaks the NBA star will be receiving flashy a heroic new alternate costume soon.

Space Jam: A New Legacy delivered a slam dunk at the box office earning over 162 million worldwide. This second feature-length offshoot of Nike's 1992 Super Bowl Hare Jordan commercial debuted at number one on opening day, eventually becoming a global sensation. Although many critics dismissed it as a tired exercise in IP-driven branding, fans gave Hollywood 162,892,228 reasons to continue expanding commercials beyond the confines of their 30-second border, to become television series and feature films.

The Looney Tunes are some of the most famous and beloved cartoon characters in history, and even though they have been around for decades, there’s one big question fans still have about them: why are they called “Tunes” and not “Toons”? The entertainment industry is a very competitive world, and there are certain areas where the competition heats up quite easily and often, among those the realm of cartoons. The name that usually comes up when talking about cartoons is Disney, but Warner Bros. also has a long list of popular cartoon shows and characters, and among those are the Looney Tunes.

Space Jam took viewers and the Looney Tunes to space for a basketball game, and it also introduced a new Tune: Lola Bunny, but why did the studio create a new character instead of using an existing one? Bugs Bunny and company have gone through a variety of adventures since the Looney Tunes’ debut in 1930, but none can compare to what they went through in Space Jam. Directed by Joe Pytka and released in 1996, Space Jam brought together the Looney Tunes and professional basketball in a story that wasn’t the critics’ favorite but won over the hearts of the audience.

Space Jam: A New Legacy features a handful of references that point to the original movie existing in the same canon. Michael Jordan had no part to play in the Looney Tunes’ team-up with LeBron James, but the experiences he shared with them in the 1996 classic were quietly acknowledged in the new movie. The basketball-themed Looney Tunes movie shares the same basic concept as the original, but it was stated by James in 2020 that - as hinted by its subtitle - Space Jam: A New Legacy is not a direct sequel.