Over 20 years after the most underrated Looney Tunes movie made an unlikely promise, The Day the Earth Blew Up is finally making this claim a reality. I’m always shocked to realize just how few Looney Tunes movies there are in existence. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are two of the most iconic cartoon characters of all time, so it seems impossible that their first feature film was 1997’s Space Jam. Excluding compilation movies made up of existing shorts, there are only four Looney Tunes movies, including 2025’s upcoming The Day the Earth Blew Up.

With this context in mind, it is arguably unsurprising that Daffy Duck has never been the star of a Looney Tunes movie. This would be easier to forgive if two of the existing Looney Tunes movies didn’t have real-life basketball players as their main characters, but the fact that the cartoon characters have appeared in so few movies means that Daffy Duck’s lack of time in the limelight isn’t a personal slight. Still, considering how consistently hilarious he is, it is a shame that earlier Looney Tunes feature films relegated him to a supporting role.

The Day the Earth Blew Up Is The Daffy Duck Movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action Promised

Bugs Bunny Tells Daffy He Can Have The Next Leading Role In The 2003 Movie’s Ending

The Looney Tunes franchise seems to be aware of this, judging by 2003’s underrated Looney Tunes: Back in Action. This anarchic spy spoof stars Brendan Fraser as a down-on-his-luck stuntman, DJ Drake, who is thrown into an international conspiracy when his father is taken hostage by ACME’s villainous head honcho, Mr. Chairman. Of course, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny are there to help out Drake and his unlikely love interest, Jenna Elfman’s overworked Vice President of Comedy Kate.

In the meta-world of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Daffy and Bugs are a pair of movie stars who are locked in an eternal battle over who gets top billing. To be more strictly accurate, Daffy is constantly fighting to get more recognition, while the ever-popular Bugs Bunny is perpetually amused by his co-star’s desperate antics. Despite how vitriolic Daffy’s demands sometimes become, Bugs consistently greets them with good humor. In Looney Tunes: Back in Action’s ending, Daffy even manages to save Bugs, so his long-time co-star promises Daffy can have the lead role in the next Looney Tunes movie.

The Day the Earth Blew Up Can Prove Daffy Duck’s Leading Man Potential

The Iconic Cartoon Character Has Headlined Countless Shorts and Specials

While Daffy is one of the movie’s main characters, he is no more the star of Looney Tunes: Back in Action than Bugs or Fraser and Elfman’s human characters. As such, after Coyote Vs ACME was shelved by Warner Bros, The Day the Earth Blew Up marks Daffy’s first leading role in a Looney Tunes movie. While he shares the screen with Porky Pig, Daffy is the main character of The Day the Earth Blew Up.

It is about time that the Looney Tunes franchise gave Daffy Duck a movie debut of his own, considering his major role in its history. Daffy starred in the 2003 TV series Duck Dodgers and 2006’s Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, but has never had a feature-length theatrical movie to himself before now. As such, The Day the Earth Blew Up paid off Bugs Bunny’s promise from the ending of the last Looney Tunes movie over two decades ago.