History WhatCouldHaveBeen / SpaceJam

* [[https://www.spacejam.com/1996/cmp/behind/chardevelopmentframes.html According to the Space Jam website,]] the Monstars all had different names in development. All five were named after different words for "nothing": Bupkis, Nada, Null, Void, and Zilch. Out of all of these, only Bupkus kept his name. This does explain why they all have the number 0 on their uniforms.

* [[https://www.spacejam.com/1996/cmp/behind/chardevelopmentframes.html According to the Space Jam website,]] the Monstars all had different names in development. All five were named after different words for "nothing": Bupkis, Nada, Null, Void, and Zilch. Out of all of these, only Bupkus kept his name.

* Originally, Honey Bunny from the ''Looney Tunes'' comics was going to be Bugs Bunny's female counterpart, but she never went past the designing phase because she looked too much like him, so WesternAnimation/LolaBunny was created to fill in the female gap.
** Though early on, Lola did have [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CMNJp4yD1ON/ grey fur like Bugs and red hair]] before being changed to peach. She also had [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CMNJtH3j3Fl/ a full head of long hair]] [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CMNJxhlDTQW/ at one point.]]
** And as shown in an even earlier [[https://images.app.goo.gl/dy5tBDsGyw2MHhkH6 concept design]], Lola was going to be a redesign of Daisy Lou from "Hare Splitter", but then was going to be Lola ''Rabbit''.

** Speaking of Swackhammer, he was originally going to be depicted as live-action but the idea was scrapped.

* Joe Pytka revealed during an interview with ''Entertainment Weekly'' in March 2021 that the film was originally supposed to end with Michael Jordan's baseball match in which he succeeds in hitting a home run and also having a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheNatural'', instead of a TimeSkip where he ends his retirement from basketball and plays with the Chicago Bulls. The baseball ending was filmed, but left on the cutting room floor much to Pytka's disappointment.

* [[https://vimeo.com/230600749 This early test animation]] shows that the main villain Swackhammer had a different design.

[[caption-width-right:350:Concept art for the character Honey Bunny who was later replaced by Lola Bunny.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dwldrv5vaaejxfl_0.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A concept piece for one of the many scrapped sequel ideas, this one featuring Tony Hawk.]]

!!Film/SpaceJam

!!Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bess_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A scrapped character from the 1997 version of the film.]]
* A ''Film/SpaceJam'' sequel was planned as early as 1996, shortly after the original film was theatrically released worldwide. Titled ''Space Jam 2'' and directed again by Joe Pytka, the sequel would have involved UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan teaming up with the Looney Tunes again for a new basketball competition against the alien Berserk-O!, who was going to be voiced by Creator/MelBrooks, and his henchmen. However, the sequel was cancelled when Warner Bros. found out that Jordan hadn't signed a contract for a sequel and a producer had lied to keep development going.
* Other sequel ideas for a second ''Jam'' film with a celebrity protagonist involved ''Spy Jam'' starring Creator/JackieChan (which likely evolved into ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' starring Creator/BrendanFraser), ''Race Jam'' starring Jeff Gordon (who cameoed on ''Back in Action'') and ''Skate Jam'' starring Tony Hawk (this last one was cancelled after ''Back in Action'' underperformed). Joe Pytka was also pitched to do a spin-off starring Tiger Woods (perhaps ''Golf Jam'') which would have brought Jordan back in a small role.
** Retired basketball player Kobe Bryant showed an interest in directing the film. He was uninterested in doing a cameo if asked as he didn't really like acting and wanted to pursue a filmmaking career, having already written and narrated the short film ''WesternAnimation/DearBasketball''. However, Terence Nance had already been hired by that point.
* Creator/KathSoucie was originally announced to be reprising her role as Lola Bunny from the original film. However, when the first trailer was released, it was revealed that Creator/{{Zendaya}} would be voicing Lola instead. It's unknown whether Soucie was recast, the reports were wrong and assumed Soucie's return or if Warner replaced her with Zendaya at the last minute.
* Pepé Le Pew was supposed to have a role where his AnythingThatMoves tendencies [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome would land him with a restraining order against any toons, and that he wasn't allowed to touch anyone ever again]]. However, the character wound up being removed from the film, as well as certain future projects in the franchise. Supposedly, it was partially finished for test screenings before it wound up being cut.
* On the topic of WesternAnimation/PepeLePew, Penelope Pussycat was planned to be part of [=TuneSquad=] for the sequel. She was even included in early promotional material ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBGKJV6E_QQ such as the December 2020 reveal]]) complete with official artwork and merchandise of Penelope wearing the film's new [=TuneSquad=] outfits. By the time the official teaser dropped on March 2021, she wasn't featured in any footage or the movie itself, although she appears in [[TheCameo three panels]] of the ComicBookAdaptation.
* Quad City DJ's, who recorded the original film's famous theme song, had recorded a brand new theme for the soundtrack, [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CGxwCs8jlba/ and even released a teaser]], but it didn't make in onto the soundtrack or film.
* [[https://twitter.com/thatdaffyduck/status/1558494125560926211 An alternate version of the]] FourthWallPsych gag.

** Speaking of Swackhammer, He was originally going to be depicted as a live-action but the idea was scrapped.

* As stated above, Joe Pytka revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in March 2021 that the film was originally supposed to end with Michael Jordan's baseball match in which he succeeds in hitting a home run and also having a ShoutOut scene to ''Film/TheNatural'', instead of a TimeSkip where he ends his retirement from basketball and plays with the Chicago Bulls. The baseball ending was shot, but left on the cutting room floor much to Pytka's disappointment.

* [[https://twitter.com/thatdaffyduck/status/1558494125560926211 An alternate version of the]] FourthWallPsyche gag.

* As stated above, Joe Pytka revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly on March 2021 that the film was originally supposed to end with Michael Jordan's baseball match in which he succeeds in hitting a home run and also having a ShoutOut scene to ''Film/TheNatural'', instead of a TimeSkip where he ends his retirement from basketball and plays with the Chicago Bulls. The baseball ending was shot, but left on the cutting room floor much to Pytka's disappointment.

* Other sequel ideas for a second ''Jam'' film with a celebrity protagonist involved ''Spy Jam'' starring Creator/JackieChan (which likely evolved into ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' starring Creator/BrendanFraser), ''Race Jam'' starring Jeff Gordon and ''Skate Jam'' starring Tony Hawk (this last one was cancelled after ''Back in Action'' underperformed). Joe Pytka was also pitched to do a spin-off starring Tiger Woods (perhaps ''Golf Jam'') which would have brought Jordan back in a small role.

[[caption-width-right:350:A concept piece for one of the many scrapped sequel ideas, This one is starring Tony Hawk.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A concept piece for one of the many scrapped sequels starring Tony Hawk.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dwldrv5vaaejxfl.jpg]]

!!Space Jam

!!Space Jam 2

[[caption-width-right:350:A concept piece for a scrapped sequel starring Tony Hawk.]]

!!Space Jam 2