Fans of Space Jam: A New Legacy and the Spider-Man: No Way Home actress got their first Zendaya Lola Bunny clip over the weekend, and some folks aren’t happy. Users have taken to social media to make fun of the Space Jam 2 Lola Bunny footage, in particular Zendaya’s performance as the Looney Tunes character, and are calling on Warner Bros to replace her with an “actual voice actor.”
Hate for the Zendaya Lola Bunny clip from Space Jam: A New Legacy
The first clip revealing Zendaya as Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy appeared yesterday, showing Lola being interviewed as Bugs Bunny watches on. Lola appeared in the first Space Jam 2 trailer but didn’t speak, so this is the first time fans have seen how Zendaya performs as the beloved character — who made her first appearance in the original Space Jam movie.
Unfortunately, fans quickly turned on the clip and Zendaya’s performance. Many believe that the clip serves as “a prime example of how good voice actors are at their job” and call on Warner Bros to replace Zendaya with an “actual voice actor.”
this is a prime example of how good voice actors are at their jobs and why they should be far more respected. you cannot just cast a popular actress in a voice role and expect her to be able to do the job at the same level of quality as a professional voice actor
— not a panthers fan (@BrosephSZN) June 6, 2021
i’m sorry but this does not look or sound right, they should’ve gotten an actual voice actor for this https://t.co/D0Cxd18mJA
— mara/ross (@DYKEVAMP1RE) June 6, 2021
Even fans of Zendaya hate the clip, with some suggesting that it’s not so much her performance but that the animation and lip sync is completely off, and others just calling it “horrific.”
bruh I like Zendaya and all but dude, this honestly sounds really bad. Maybe it's because the lip sync is way off and the animation doesn't match her voice at all.
But yeah, nothing in this clip works tbh https://t.co/IxdNYJZcGe— 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐳𝐢𝐞 💘 (@PunzieSfw) June 7, 2021
I love Zendaya but this voice acting for Lola is horrific https://t.co/Lvljfhjfp9
— I Thouht You Were Stronger (@Gods__key) June 7, 2021
Many are comparing Zendaya’s performance to Kath Soucie, who played Lola in the original 1996 Space Jam and who’s a professional voice actor, and she even returned to voice Lola in the more recent New Looney Tunes cartoon — perhaps ironically replacing Kristen Wiig, who first voiced Lola in that cartoon series.
While it’s highly unlikely that Warner Bros will replace Zendaya, it’s obvious that the reveal of their big new star hasn’t gone as smoothly as the studio hoped. That seems on-brand with Warner Bros, who have received plenty of fan ire this year after cutting out John Stewart’s Green Lantern from the supposedly uncut Zack Snyder’s Justice League and upsetting many with the news about their new Superman movie.
