In April of 2021, Warner Bros. announced a sequel to their 90s pop culture landmark Space Jam titled Space Jam: A New Legacy. Though many fans were excited to see the Looney Tunes hit the basketball courts once again, there were those who couldn't help but feel disappointed that most of the plot points from the first film had seemingly been dropped for the sequel; the most glaring omission being the absence of the original protagonist Michael Jordan, whose role was now filled by fellow NBA superstar LeBron James. While it would be easy to argue that it was only natural to start with a blank slate as the original Space Jam came out 25 years ago and it wouldn't be right to expect all the audience members had seen it, that didn't stop some from coming up with their own conspiracy theories, believing Warner had something they wanted to hide.
One of those conspiracy theorists was YouTuber Super Eyepatch Wolf, who did some digging of his own and was shocked at what he found. Shortly after the original Space Jam's release, Michael Jordan himself pitched a sequel by the name of Space Jam 2: Battle for Reality, only for it to be rejected by Warner executives who felt his plans were wildly infeasible at best, and outright impossible at worst. With help from a mysterious informant named "Miracle Jan Doh", Eyepatch Wolf was able to get his hands on Jordan's script, along with storyboards and production notes, and on May 2nd, he revealed them all to the public for the first time in a video titled "Space Jam 2: How Warner Bros is Lying to You
".
The story begins several years after the first movie. Michael Jordan, now in the twilight of his basketball career, has settled down with Bugs Bunny, and though he still has nightmares about his fall from grace, is living an otherwise peaceful life. That peace is soon shattered when Mr. Swackhammer makes his return, challenging the Looney Tunes to a rematch against a new, even stronger team of Monstars, with barely any time to prepare themselves. And what's worse, somebody has already agreed to these unreasonable conditions on their behalf, suggesting there may be a traitor amongst the Tunes...
Outside of kayfabe, Space Jam 2: Battle for Reality is a bizarre Fan Sequel to Space Jam penned by Super Eyepatch Wolf, illustrated by Brobexx and featuring voice work from Kirikai.
Some parts of this trope list may have been fabricated for the purposes of entertainment:
- Adaptational Sexuality: In Space Jam, Bugs Bunny is infatuated with Lola Bunny, and Michael Jordan has a wife. In BFR, Bugs and Michael are same-sex lovers, while Lola is Demoted to Extra and Michael’s previous family is absent without explanation. This was likely so Eyepatch Wolf wouldn't have to commission a second voice actor to play Lola.
- Adaptational Villainy: Daffy Duck, who dooms his friends to suffering in order to get back at Bugs Bunny.
- Broken Pedestal: Ever since he was a kid, LeBron James looked up to Michael Jordan as his hero. Even so, when Jordan becomes a threat to the whole universe LeBron is the one to step in to stop him, as he tears into his selfish desire to be the best at the expense of everyone else.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Jokers who make up the new Monstars are Inexplicably Awesome at basketball and able to lay waste to the Looney Tunes.
- Demoted to Extra: The other Looney Tunes characters barely factor into the story. Since the Training Montage doesn't have any storyboards or dialogue, Tweety, Porky, and Daffy are the only Looney Tunes characters other than Bugs to get lines. In-Universe, this is one of Daffy's prime motives for betraying the team.
- Fatal Flaw: Michael Jordan's need to always be the best leads to his Face–Heel Turn and the destruction of the universe.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In the production notes, there exist schematics for a trapdoor that Michael Jordan would hide under during select screenings of the movie until his first rampage, where he would jump out of said trapdoor to attack the audience itself.
- Hero Antagonist: LeBron James only steps in to oppose Michael Jordan because of the threat he poses to all reality, and his "Reason You Suck" Speech to the latter indicates that he has a less self centered view of life.
- Hope Spot: Just when it looks like LeBron James has defeated Michael Jordan, the latter kills Bugs Bunny's ghost and becomes an unstoppable Physical God.
- Hostile Show Takeover: During Michael Jordan's initial rampage after Bugs Bunny's death, it's stated in the production notes that the film would've had alternate cuts of various Warner Bros. movies (like The Lord of the Rings, Batman Begins, and Scooby-Doo) playing alongside it where Michael invades and terrorizes their worlds, which is where the "fourth dimensional" elements of the movie come into play.
- Leave the Camera Running: There was meant to be a lengthy sequence near the end of the movie with Michael Jordan floating alone in the void of space after he defeats LeBron James, devastating the universe in the process. The original plan was for this scene to last 400 years in real time, and it was only changed when that turned out to be impossible.
- Lonely at the Top: The most important focus of Jordan's characterization, the implicit moral of Space Jam 1, and the reason he begins his horrifying assault against reality.
- Me's a Crowd: The Generation Two Monstars are all different incarnations of the Joker from various movies and television series, the exception being Agent Smith (who's also the only one to get a spoken line).
- Motive Rant: This is how the traitor reveals themselves to Bugs:Daffy: You wanna know who signed the contract, Bugs? Maybe it's the same person who for years has ROTTED AS YOUR PUNCHLINE!!! Can you even comprehend the humiliation I have endured? The amount of buckshots I've taken to the face for you? And for what?! To be number three next to you and your little... boyfriend?! *insane chuckle* You wanna know "what's up, doc"? How about... your fucking life!
- Non-Standard Character Design: Goku is portrayed as a static colored piece of promotional art, contrasting against the monochrome animatic the film was depicted as up until this point.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Michael and Bugs have become lovers since the first film. Due to this, Lola is no longer Bugs' love interest.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: Chronicles Jordan's transformation from Broken Ace Basketball player to the being of destruction known as THE INFINITY SLAYER
- Sequel Hook: The movie ends with one to a sequel where Neo Michael Jordan encounters and battles Goku titled Space Jam 3: War of the Infinity Beasts.
- Take That!: The Training Montage isn't detailed. There is instead a single page that simply says that it's much better than "that piece of shit" Rocky. We'll have to take their word for it.
