Space Jam 2 Director Says Lola Bunny Was ‘Reworked’ To Be Less ‘Sexualized’ And Be More Of A ‘Strong Female Character’

On Thursday we got our first look at the new Space Jam movie starring LeBron James and, Lola Bunny has gotten a pretty noticeable revamp in the upcoming sequel.

Director Malcolm D. Lee told Entertainment Weekly that after watching the original Space Jam for the first time in 2019, he was caught off guard by the “very sexualized” depiction of Lola Bunny and made sure she was “reworked” for A New Legacy.

Via EW

Upon watching Space Jam for the first time in 2019, Lee was caught off guard by the original’s “very sexualized” depiction of Lola Bunny. “This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters,” the Girls Trip filmmaker says of why they “reworked” Lola, a.k.a. the team’s best non-LeBron player.

After going back and watching the original Lola Bunny scene from the 1996 Space Jam you can see why the old Lola would be considered problematic today.

They probably just didn't want to have yet another generation of kids that grew up with weird feelings for a sexy rabbit! pic.twitter.com/oxFq9DjdlF

— Christopher Enrique Carantit (@CE_Carantit) March 5, 2021

Of course Lola Bunny immediately started trending on social media because people were arguing about the new character design.

https://twitter.com/Molo_Lolo/status/1367538692328423427