Outside of the return of Bugs Bunny and his Looney Tunes crew, the plot of Space Jam 2 has been kept under heavy lock-and-key inside the Warner Bros. water tower, but now, thanks to a recent podcast appearance from Don Cheadle's Black Monday co-star Paul Scheer, we may have a few new details about one of the movie's central characters.
To promote the new season of his hit Showtime series, Scheer recently appeared on the Clip City Podcast, a Los Angeles Clippers-centric podcast sponsored by The Athletic, and seemingly let it slip that Cheadle (Avengers: Endgame) will be playing the primary antagonist in the upcoming animated sequel.
He reveals, "Actually Don Cheadle, who I do 'Black Monday' with, he's the bad guy in 'Space Jam,' and he said LeBron's really great. He was great in 'Train Wreck' too."
While he is undoubtedly playing a villain, it's uncertain at this juncture whether the Academy Award-nominated Cheadle will be playing a human villain or providing the voice for an animated baddie. The first film did see Danny DeVito provide the voice for the alien antagonist Swackhammer, so it's entirely possible Cheadle could be playing a similar role.
Malcolm D. Lee (Night School) is directing and Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) is producing the upcoming sequel, which will star Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James in the lead role, doing his best to fill the shoes of the legendary Michael Jordan, a.k.a. the greatest basketball player of all-time, who starred in the original 1996 classic.
Cheadle will headline the supporting cast along with Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery), who is playing James' wife, and Ceyair J. Wright (American Skin), who is playing his eldest son. Basketball co-stars remain a mystery for now, but the cast is rumored to feature the likes of Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Kyle Kuzma, Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike, amongst several other NBA and WNBA stars.
There are also rumors that additional Warner Bros. characters, including Pennywise, Lord Voldemort, The Wicked Witch of the West, Agent Smith, The Mask, and The Joker, will also appear, but those murmurs remain unconfirmed for now.
Space Jam 2 is currently slated to hit theaters on July 16, 2021.