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Pepé Le Pew isn’t in the top tier of Warner Bros.’ iconic lineup of Looney Tunes characters, but he’s still instantly recognizable to many around the world. So, the news that the upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy featured a scene with him alongside Jane the Virgin‘s Greice Santo that was ultimately cut from the movie, along with rumors that the studio is permanently benching the skunk, was greeted with dismay.
The going theory is that the sexually aggressive cartoon lothario simply doesn’t land in 2021 and Warner Bros., apparently fearful of controversy, have dodged the issue by ditching him altogether. The impetus for this seems to have been an NYT columnist arguing that Pepé Le Pew added to rape culture by merely depicting sexual harassment, regardless of its context.
That’s been pushed back against, though. Fans pointed out that Le Pew was always the antagonist and that the point of the cartoons was to satirize pushy men. Santo was dismayed that the Space Jam 2 scene was tossed, too, saying via a spokesperson that it demonstrated to young viewers that Pepé’s behavior is unacceptable and that “if anyone was going to slap a sexual harasser like him, Greice wished it would be her.”
Now, Linda Jones, daughter of Looney Tunes creator Chuck Jones, has said that she “strongly disagrees” that Pepé endorses rape culture and goes on to point out that his cartoons were created during the 50s, 60s and 70s when sexual harassment was more overt. She explains that her father (described as a “super liberal dude”) wanted to shine a light on real-life jerks who behave like Pepé and teach children that being pursued like this is not okay.
And as for his deleted scene in Space Jam: A New Legacy? She doesn’t think that the character deserves to be dropped, but given that it’s Warner Bros.’ decision, her opinion doesn’t really matter. WB has remained quiet on the story, but it’s clear that the Le Pew isn’t coming back anytime soon and there are no plans to include him in any future Looney Tunes shows or movies.
Space Jam: A New Legacy, meanwhile, lands in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16th, 2021.
James Cameron may have publicly congratulated the team behind Avengers: Endgame after the conclusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga dislodged Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie in the history of cinema, but you can guarantee that he’d have been seething behind the scenes.
After all, Cameron had held the distinction of directing history’s biggest commercial hit since 1997, and only reinforced his position a dozen years later when Avatar replaced Titanic at the top of the rankings, not to mention the fact that he’s gone on record and blamed a rounding error for causing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to knock the Na’vi from their perch.
However, it’s looking very likely that Avatar is set to reclaim the title of highest-grossing movie ever as soon as this weekend, following the news that the sci-fi blockbuster is being re-released into Chinese theaters on Friday. Needless to say, Endgame supporters were less than thrilled that its time could be up, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
can Cameron and Avatar please fuck off? no one cares about magic blue people movie. Endgame deserves its crown https://t.co/eNYmmPZlw0
— MG (@mgonmovies) March 10, 2021
Rerelease Endgame and I’ll put it back over Avatar myself https://t.co/PBZVhBCsYB
— SweggyBohner (@Sweggy_Spoder) March 10, 2021
James Cameron is so desperate for Avatar to beat Avengers Endgame! Focus on making Avatar 2 memorable & a great sequel! pic.twitter.com/NHVPoEO6nr
— Josh
Raya And The Last Dragon #BlackLivesMatter (@supermangeek101) March 9, 2021
They are SO WRONG for doing this! Fair enough do a re-release when the sequels come but not now! It better not make 7.4M https://t.co/mwUoop1bDg
— Lewis (@lpowell092020) March 9, 2021
Cant avatar tale 2nd place. I mean..Missing out to avengers endgame seriously isn’t exactly a small change!
— Johnny Depp Jr. (@Santino_Geranio) March 10, 2021
James Cameron is really desperate to beat Avengers Endgame jesus! Focus on making Avatar 2 & the rest of the sequels amazing not this! pic.twitter.com/KNqYon0M4b
— Josh
Raya And The Last Dragon #BlackLivesMatter (@supermangeek101) March 9, 2021
This seems pretty desperate for James Cameron! Focus on making Avatar 2 great not about beating Avengers Endgame in a pandemic!
— Josh
Raya And The Last Dragon #BlackLivesMatter (@supermangeek101) March 9, 2021
Avatar is gonna beat Endgame and then they'll release Endgame against etc. and people will keep going.
— Elemental HERO Zenrotto (@Zenrotwo) March 9, 2021
They're gonna rerelease Avatar in the west before the sequel comes out and I'll buy like 30 tickets to try and get it over Endgame.
— grace (@GemOfAmara) March 9, 2021
Disney re-releasing Avatar to take the lead so they can re-release Endgame again is hilarious tho
— Henry (@seminole4life22) March 9, 2021
James Cameron a fucking dork for rereleasing Avatar so it can pass Endgame lol make a new movie. Pretentious dickhead.
— Jacob. (@JacobFalcon23) March 9, 2021
Avatar only needs to earn $8 million to return to the summit, which feels like a foregone conclusion. Not only has the Chinese box office rebounded significantly in recent months, but the first time around, the Pandoran epic raked in over $200 million from the nation’s theaters, and needs just 4% of that amount to usurp Endgame.
Of course, Marvel Studios could simply retaliate by giving Avengers: Endgame a re-release of its own, which would extend its lead even further after the movie brought in a mammoth $629 million from China during the summer of 2019. But regardless of what happens, the real winners are going to be Disney, who own the rights to both properties and could play them against each other for years to come.