Category: News

This past weekend saw San Diego Comic Con rework their annual shindig for an at-home quarantine world, and things seemed to go swimmingly. There were Zoom panels galore, a ton of trailers and first looks, and, of course, Keanu Reeves. There were also some virtual panels that weren’t a part of SDCC at all. There was one for Rick and Morty as well as one for Netflix’s dearly departed Daredevil. Entitled #SaveDaredevil, it was intended to exhume the show, which was cancelled in 2018 when Marvel was setting up shop at its future home, Disney+.

There was one disturbing revelation made during the virtual panel, though, as per Entertainment Weekly. Peter Shinkoda played the character of Nobu, a member of super-villain organization The Hand over nine episodes. He claims former Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb told the writers room not to give Nobu nor Madame Gao, played by Wai Ching Ho, backstories, because, he allegedly told them, “nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people.”

Shinkoda said he as “reluctant” to break the news, but seemed to eventually talk himself into doing it, even at the risk of possible backlash. “I’m not into really protecting certain things anymore,” Shinkoda told the virtual crowd. He then soldiered on:

“Jeph Loeb told the writers’ room not to write for Nobu and Gao — and this was reiterated many times by many of the writers and showrunners — that nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people. There were three previous Marvel movies, a trilogy called Blade that was made where Wesley Snipes kills 200 Asians each movie. Nobody gives a s—, so don’t write about Nobu and Gao, so they were forced to put their storyline down and drop it.”

Shinkoda said the writers were at one point considering exploring Nobu’s journey to America, which would involve Gao. “All that backstory was dropped,” Shinkoda calimed. “The writers told me they regret it and they were reluctant to do it because they were stoked about including that in the storyline but they were prevented so I had to concoct this other storyline and rock that material I was given.”

Under Loeb’s watch, Marvel produced such shows as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Legion, Jessica Jones, Runaways, and more. One of them, Iron First, came under fire for the representation of Asian characters. Loeb has of this writing not publicly addressed the allegations.

(Via EW)

There are a lot of billionaires in the world, but few as colorful as Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The same weekend the entrepreneur appeared to possibly enrage his wife, Grimes, over a cryptic tweet about pronouns, a New York Times profile with him was released, in which, among other things, he threatened to throw it down with Johnny Depp over allegations he made about the latter’s ex, Amber Heard.

Musk’s name came up during Depp’s London trial, in which the actor is suing the British Tabloid The Sun, which labeled him a “wife-beater” in an April 2018 article. Heard has had to appear in court as well, and numerous, sometimes scandalous details have emerged about their marriage, with both parties accusing each other of forms of abuse. Musk briefly dated Heard after their split, but Depp claimed they’d hooked up while the two were still wed. Not so, said Musk.

“I definitely was not having an affair with Amber while she was married to Johnny, this is totally false,” Mr. Musk told the NYT. He also shot down another accusation: that he’d had a threesome with Heard and her friend Cara Delevingne. “We did not have the threesome, you know. So I think people think these things are generally more salacious than they are.”

As for another revelation — that Depp referred to him, unflatteringly, as “Mollusk” — Musk reportedly chuckled, then added, “Well, yeah, I hope he recovers from this situation.” What he didn’t take too kindly to was a text from Depp to Heard, in which the actor threatened to slice off the mogul’s nether-regions. That crossed a line.

“If Johnny wants a cage fight, just let me know,” Musk replied. It’s not clear how serious he was; the NYT described his response as “mischievous” and that he broke “into his famous giggle.”

Musk also had some sage advice for Depp and Heard. “For the two of them,” he said. “I would just recommend that they bury the hatchet and move on.”

So it’s unlikely that humanity will be gifted with a Depp-Musk tussle, possibly beamed on pay-per-view. Then again, we do appear to be trapped in the weirdest timeline.

(Via The New York Times)

Last year’s AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander picked up a win in his first start of the season, as the Astros beat the Mariners 8-2 on opening day, but that first win will apparently be his last of the season as well.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros will soon make official the end of Verlander’s season as he deals with an elbow injury — one that was not apparent in Friday’s six-inning, seven strikeout performance.

The Astros will announce that reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander is out for the season with an elbow injury, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Chronicle on Sunday.

It’s a huge blow to the reigning AL champs to see their ace go down so soon into the shortened season, and will make their quest for a third straight American League crown that much more difficult. Verlander, at age 37, was still at the top of his game and, with Gerritt Cole now in New York, was the clear top starter for Houston. Houston will have a tough time filling that hole in the rotation, and hopefully Verlander is able to make a full recovery for next season, although as of now we do not know details on what exactly is the injury or the severity of it.

Last week, Juice WRLD’s first posthumous album, Legends Never Die, topped the Billboard albums chart, selling 497,000 units in its first week. It broke a number of records: It was the biggest first-week number for an album in 2020, the fourth-biggest streaming week ever, and it helped make the biggest week for a hip-hop album or a male artist since 2018. With Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Moon Aim For The Stars coming in at No. 2, it was also the first time posthumous albums occupied the top two positions on the albums chart. Juice WLRD’s album wound up holding onto the top position for its second week.

Legends Never Die sold an additional 162,000 equivalent album units for its second week. Coming in at No. 2, once again, is Pop Smoke’s Shoot For The Moon Aim For The Stars, which sold a total of 138,000 equivalent album units.

Elsewhere on the charts, The Chicks’ first album since 2006, Gaslighter, arrives at No. 3 with 84,000 units. The album also led the weeks in album sales, with 71,000 units. The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical comes in at No. 4 and to round out the top 5, Lil Baby’s My Turn holds it down at No. 5.

Elsewhere on the top ten, Jhene Aiko’s Chilombo jumped 37 positions to No. 6, thanks to its re-issued deluxe album Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding came in at No. 7, DaBaby’s Blame It on Baby pulled in at No. 8, Harry Styles’ Fine Line was No. 9, and The Weeknd’s After Hours can be found at found at No. 10.

You can read our review of Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die here.

(via Billboard)

Some artists are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.

Joe Rogan has a lot of takes. Sometimes those takes, usually dropped on his immensely popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, offend and enrage people; sometimes they offend and enrage his guests, like when Bill Burr took umbrage with him calling people who wear masks “b*tches.” The latest Rogan controversy involves video games. He doesn’t like him. And now people online don’t like Joe Rogan.

Granted, the NewsRadio vet didn’t always feel this way. He was once an avid gamer, which, he says, was the problem. In a recent broadcast, the actor, comic, and podcast king says he “used to have a real problem with them.” Now he’s seen the light. “They’re a real problem. You know why? Because they’re f*cking fun. You do them, and they’re real exciting, but you don’t get anywhere.”

He continued:

“You [could be] doing something exciting and fun, or you could just be playing f*cking video games. Three years later you could just be that same kid, playing video games, waiting for the next whatever the f*ck game is… You’re gonna waste your time.”

People on Twitter were not amused with this take. Some called him “ignorant” of video games’ full potential.

Some pointed out he’ll probably wind up reneging on his take anyway.

Some pointed out that a man whose podcasts sometimes last three or four or five hours shouldn’t be talking about wasting time.

Others were simply annoyed that Rogan was trending again.

(Via GameRant)

The Orlando Magic enter their hometown bubble looking to improve on their current standing as the 8-seed in the Eastern Conference, hoping to vault to seventh and set up a rematch of last year’s first round series with Toronto.

One of the biggest questions facing Orlando’s bubble roster was the status of budding star big man Jonathan Isaac, who has been sidelined since January 1 with a sprained knee. When entering the bubble, the Magic said Isaac would be brought along slowly, and the expectation was that they’d err on the side of caution with the 22-year-old. However, it appears as though Isaac has shown the Magic’s medical staff he is recovered enough to get back on the court in game action, as The Athletic’s Josh Robbins reports he will play in Orlando’s final scrimmage game.

“It’s been a very long time since he’s played,” Magic president Jeff Weltman told Robbins. “As always, we will take a very cautious approach, and his playing time will be placed under a very limited minute restriction as he gets reacclimated to the NBA game.”

Even if only playing in short bursts, Isaac’s return bodes well for the Magic and their chances of vaulting the shorthanded Nets for the seventh spot in the East (and avoiding the Bucks in the process). Isaac averaged 12 points and 6.9 boards per game this season, but his impact is most felt on the defensive end where he is truly one of the league’s best and most versatile players. He has the length to disrupt shots at the rim and the quickness and agility to stay with players on the perimeter when he gets switched in pick-and-roll, and averaged a robust 2.4 blocks and 1.6 steals per game this season before his injury.

The Magic’s long-term success rides on their ability to build around a player like Isaac, and that is the reason they will remain cautions with his minutes in his return. Still, getting his presence back for the season restart — and, most importantly, a playoff series — is big for his continued development and is a good sign for Orlando.

Beginning the year in surprise fashion, Eminem gave fans a new album, Music To Be Murdered By. Standing as his eleventh album, it saw contributions from the late Juice WRLD, Don Toliver, Young M.A, Anderson .Paak, and more while also serving as the second consecutive Eminem album to be released without any prior announcement. Quite possibly beginning work on what could be his twelfth album, a new collaboration has revealed to be in the works by the Detroit rapper’s marketing firm.

On Saturday, Burn It Down Group, the firm that reportedly handles marketing for Shady Records according to XXL, hinted at a potential collaboration between Eminem and Rihanna on their Instagram story. The firm posted a photo that shows Rihanna’s “R” logo, most notably used for her Rated R album, woven into Eminem’s trademark backward “E” logo. To add to the tease from the photo, the firm added a pair of eye emojis.

If the hint does, indeed, indicate work between the two it will mark Eminem and Rihanna’s fifth collaboration following their worldwide 2010 hit “Love The Way You Lie,” its sequel “Love The Way You Lie (Part II),” 2012’s “Numb,” and 2013’s “The Monster,” which won a 2014 Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. That same year, the duo embarked on The Monster Tour which ended up being one of 2014’s highest-grossing tours.

The rumor arrives after Eminem joined Kid Cudi for their first-ever collaboration, “The Adventures Of Moon Man And Slim Shady.”

Bob’s Burgers apparently hasn’t had to slow down production of its latest season despite the rest of the entertainment world struggling through COVID-19, but at least one episode in Season 11 will have some pretty overt comparisons to the pandemic still raging worldwide.

The show held a Comic-Con At Home panel on Friday and detailed the development of its next season, which will premiere on September 27. As Deadline reported Saturday, the show will have a pandemic-related episode but it will have nothing to do with COVID-19. Producer Nora Smith shared details about the script she wrote well before the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality in the United States, which is probably why the Bob’s Burgers pandemic episode will deal with a very different subject.

The episode, aptly titled Worms of In-Rear-ment, “is about a pinworm epidemic,” Smith shared. “Two people in my life have gotten pinworms in there butts, very close to me. It just seemed like a fun pandemic story. And then this happened and I was like, people are going to think we’re joking about it. Hopefully, it’s more fun because it’s about anus stuff. There’s a lot of handwashing. I’m hoping that people think of it was an escape to a more fun pandemic.”

Hopefully a butt-themed pandemic episode will still be in good taste come September, but that wasn’t the only teaser revealed on Friday. A long-running mystery will apparently be solved in Season 11: what’s going on at the hotel at the end of the block on which the Belchers live and work. There were also some fun dream-based episodes discussed and, yes, some musical elements sure to delight fans of the show. You can watch the full panel above. Just expect a lot of poop-talk if you do.

[via Deadline]

Nintendo nostalgia fans had a big weekend for an unfortunate reason as a massive leak of the company’s data shared new details about the development of many of their favorite Nintendo properties. Development and beta code from many of Nintendo’s biggest franchises including, Mario, Star Fox, and even Pokemon allegedly leaked to hackers on the internet, and fans and journalists sifted through details and shared them online.

As with any leak of this magnitude, it is worth noting to take some of this with a grain of salt as this is a great opportunity for creative people on the internet to make things up, and while these leaks have not been confirmed by Nintendo there is evidence that much of it is real. A former Nintendo Developer, for example, quote tweeted an image that had been posted saying that it was something he had written in c++ to help himself understand the language of the game he was developing. The game itself? Star Fox 2.

This isn’t the first time Star Fox 2 has leaked of course, with a ROM of the almost completed version of the game circulating on the Internet for years before it finally received an official release all the way back in 2017 for the Super Nintendo Mini. This leak featured some possible cool artwork models from early in development including what appears to be a human Star Fox.

It even featured some unfiltered audio files such as the infamous “Do A Barrell Role” line from Star Fox 64 that went on to be used in memes for years to come.

Also in the supposed leaks was plenty of source code from Mario 64 and beta material such as early video of Mario running around an early in development version of Peach’s castle.

And if you think the leak was exclusively related to older games from the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 era you would be mistaken, because it looks like many Generation IV Pokemon sprites were involved in the leak as well. This means the leak has code and information from games as recently as the mid 2000s.

While this leak is in many ways cool, and an interesting look into gaming history for a lot of fans, there is a potential downside that exists in all of this and that’s in how the code got out. Nintendo didn’t voluntarily release this coding and they have never been a company that has looked at something like this happening and shrugged it off. It also doesn’t help that this is their second alleged leak since May. And while it’s fun to see some behind-the-scenes details about classic games, there’s a lot more than just game information here.

There’s also, of course, the fact that we’re looking at an artist’s unfinished work. The leaks have also included a lot of things that are not related to games, including some personal information including diaries, emails and some disturbing stories about childhood trauma. It’s a very real reminder that Nintendo did not disclose the revelation of any of this material, and while the behind-the-scenes look can be fascinating, it isn’t always the most appropriate or safest for everyone involved.

The NHL’s own Canadian bubble league is set to start this week, and on the eve of many teams entering the two host cities of Vancouver and Toronto one team saw its general manager abruptly quit. The Arizona Coyotoes announced on Sunday that GM John Chayka quit the Coyotes, one of 24 teams in the NHL that will head into the bubble as the season resumes with a warmup for an extended Stanley Cup Playoff.

Rumors swirled that something was up with Chayka despite having years left on his contract, and the thought was that another team was interested in his services.

The Coyotes soon made it official with a bizarre statement from the organization where they claimed Chakya “quit on a strong and competitive team” and its fans.

“John Chayka has quit as the General Manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Arizona Coyotes.

“The Club is disappointed in his actions and his timing as the Coyotes prepare to enter the NHL’s hub city of Edmonton, where the team will begin post-season play for the first time since 2012. Chayka has chosen to quit on a strong and competitive team, a dedicated staff, and the Arizona Coyotes fans, the greatest fans in the NHL.

The statement is as aggressive as we’ve seen a team make publicly about the departure of a staff member, which perhaps adds context to the abrupt departure in a front office that’s seen a considerable turnaround in the league. Arizona saw growing fan support in the often-struggling market and was praised for its efforts on the ice and off of it to rally the fan base this season.

Chayka will be replaced by Steve Sullivan in an interim basis, and the Coyotes said he has the “full support” of the organization. The league’s trade deadline is well past at this point and there isn’t much a GM can do unless major roster decisions are needed amid COVID-19-related illnesses. Still, it’s a fascinating decision and there are already rumors that Chayka intends to go elsewhere in the NHL, leaving behind a team headed to the postseason in one of the weirdest sports years we’ve ever seen.