The Internet Is Confused By The 'A Clockwork Orange' Appearance in 'Space Jam: A New Legacy'

They did it. They actually did it. Those Space Jam: A New Legacy plot rumors from a few months ago? The ones that said the film would show LeBron James traversing the Warner Bros. multiverse—sharing the screen with the likes of Voldemort, Pennywise, and Gandalf—were all true.

Thanks to Space Jam: A New Legacy's first trailer drop over the weekend, we saw the chaos in glorious live action. Fred Flintstone yelling YABADABADOO on his way to the game of the century. Frickin' King Kong is stomping around. The Mystery Machine drifts in like it just pulled up to a Fast & Furious joint. There's Yogi Bear! (Do the kiddos even know who Yogi Bear is nowadays?) And, of course ... the Droogs from Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange are there cheering from the sidelines right alongside the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. Wait. Hold on a second. What?

If you've seen Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, or read the Anthony Burgess novel of the same name, you might be kind of surprised and confused to see the Droogs hanging out in this family movie. The story centers around a guy named Alex, who runs around committing horrific crimes with his crew, whom he affectionately calls his "Droogs." Early on in the film, there's a graphic scene where Alex breaks into a man's home and sexually assaults his wife. The rest of the film centers around an attempted rehabilitation of Alex, but given what happens in A Clockwork Orange, you have to wonder how the Droogs made their way into what's otherwise pretty clearly a PG-rated romp. They're certainly not harmless pop culture villains in the same way, say, the White Walkers are.

What's strange is the reveal of the Droogs in Space Jam: A New Legacy comes a few weeks after Deadline reported that Pepé Le Pew was cut from the film. According to the story, the skunk would've been living in the world of Casablanca when Bronny showed up to ask about the whereabouts of Lola Bunny. According to the description of the scene, Pepé tries to kiss a woman's arm—she promptly slaps him—and LeBron gives him a lecture in consent. This came after a New York Times op-ed declaring that the character "added to rape culture," mentioning his unwanted pursuit of Penelope Pussycat.

Considering all of this, fans have been pretty deeply confused about the Droogs appearance:

Maybe someone at Warner Bros. will give A Clockwork Orange another watch (or read!) before Space Jam: A New Legacy is out on July 16.

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