The Boys imperfectly perfect in terms of this season’s chaos but hitting a home(lander) run with character development, particularly with A-Train, who has undergone such a transformation that people are starting to wonder what might be coming for Jessie T. Usher’s character.
As even the most casual viewer of this show knows, A-Train kicked off the series with the first Supe f*ck-up, followed by a near-total lack of remorse for reducing Hughie’s then-girlfriend to a set of hands. A-Train’s dismissive attitude largely continued until this season when he began actively working against Vought. This has included being the “leak” that Homelander is raging about and making a peace offering of Compound V for Hughie’s dad (even though that did not turn out well). A-Train didn’t stop there, and clearly, he has grown fully disillusioned with being a member of The Seven.
In last week’s episode, A-Train was visibly moved when a young child was awestruck to see him in person, and he did something fully heroic by whisking MM to the hospital (at Kimiko’s urging) when he collapsed at Tek Knight’s mansion. He’s definitely in a redemption arc (which does feel organic), so that is naturally making viewers wonder whether A-Train might be the next member of The Seven to bite the dust.
Is that fear unfounded? Probably not. Homelander’s amped-up wrath displays have been particularly egregious this season, so there’s reason for fans to worry that the writers are propping up A-Train only to deliver a gut punch.
As a result, social media is awash with concern from A-Train followers, and “please let A-Train survive this season” and “[i]t’s gonna hurt” are sentiments that couldn’t have been expected to surface from fans when the show began. Oh how times have changed.
With A-Train saving MM and getting all this attention on social media, he is definitely going to get killed off in the next episode #TheBoys pic.twitter.com/MyNShy8xs6
Kendrick Lamar took a few hefty swings at Drake’s OVO Sound’s mascot in the “Not Like Us” video. But last month (June 30), it appears Drake fans decided to throw a few punches of their own—at Drizzy’s foe Rick Ross.
While performing in Montreal, the “Champagne Moments” rapper and his crew were seemingly rushed after playing the chart-topping Kendrick track. Yesterday (July 4), Ross finally issued a response to the brawl.
“Aye man, I’m thinking about the event that happened over there,” he said. “When the first dude stepped up to Rozay, the lil’ short fat one that looked like Bam Bam Bigelow from wrestling. When he stepped up, I squatted down, and his eyes had told him what I said. Basically, ‘Boy, if I hit you, imma see everything you ate for the last two days.’ His balls dropped out of his ass. He never said another word, he did never did nothing. He was a straight busta. Then the n**** behind him said, ‘I know MMA!’ And then I got hit with a drink. I’m still convinced ain’t no n**** punched me. Somebody said, ‘Rozay, the n**** tried to punch you, he hit you!.’ I said, ‘Nah, he had to throw a drink.’ ‘Cause throwing a drink would have been way more disrespectful than screaming, ‘I know MMA!’”
Typically, being attacked would rattle anyone. But not in Ross’ case. In fact, he seemed amused more so than anything else.
Brandon Ingram is an interesting player on the NBA’s trade market. Ingram is an unquestioned talent, and his ability to score and bring some playmaking should make him a player who gins up some interest. And yet, on the heels of a disappointing playoff run, trading for a guy who can’t fit alongside his team’s best player and will need an extension sometime in the next year isn’t exactly piquing teams’ interest.
Today, we’re looking around the league for trades involving guys who could be on the move now that the initial surge of the league’s free agency period calmed down, and Ingram is not an easy guy to figure out here. His value isn’t exactly at its highest and, like Lauri Markkanen, given he’s on an expiring the team acquiring him would have to want to extend him and have some assurances he will if they’re going to send out real assets for him. However, we’ve identified three teams that we think could make a deal for Ingram that would make some amount of sense for all parties involved.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings are one of the teams that have been linked to Ingram, and it would make sense. After making the playoffs in 2023, the team stagnated and got bounced from the Play-In Tournament last year, and could really afford to shake things up without messing with their core of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray. Ingram is a nice fit alongside that trio, too, as he can provide some scoring and self-creation from the wing that they don’t really have — Fox and Malik Monk provide it from the guard spots, and Murray is coming along.
Something that helps Sacramento here: They can provide the Pelicans with two real NBA players in Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter, assuming that is the package they’d send back. Whether they’d keep them as rotation guys or try to flip them again would remain to be seen, but both can provide shooting on a team built around Dejounte Muray and Zion Williamson. The real question is what the Pelicans look to command in terms of draft assets. Does Ingram on an expiring (but with the idea you extend him) get two rotation players and a first round pick? We’ll split the difference and send Portland’s 2025 second here, which figures to be in the early 30s, but that figures to be the sticking point in any conversations.
The Trade Kings receive: Brandon Ingram Pelicans receive: Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter, Portland’s 2025 second-round pick
Cleveland Cavaliers
Getting Dejounte Murray makes this a little tricker, because a straight Darius Garland for Brandon Ingram swap (plus draft assets) made a ton of sense before that. However, now that Donovan Mitchell is locked in for the next few years, could Cleveland try to get really ambitious in building out its team by making Mitchell the full-time point guard, Evan Mobley the full-time center, and try to fit everything else around them? I can’t imagine them going quite that far — especially considering how good Garland has been when he doesn’t have to come back from breaking his jaw — but Mobley, in particular, has just looked worlds more comfortable when he’s playing center.
New Orleans could use a big man, and while he’s apparently a favorite of Mitchell’s and is very familiar with new head coach Kenny Atkinson, Jarrett Allen is right there and the fit alongside Mobley has long been clunky. It’d be a major endorsement in Mobley and the Cavs would have to extend Ingram right away, but he’d definitely help give them some scoring from the wing that they just don’t have.
The Trade Cavs receive: Brandon Ingram, a future second-round pick Pelicans receive: Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert
Charlotte Hornets
It’s hard to get any sort of read on the Hornets, as they’re a team under new ownership with a new head coach and is building around LaMelo Ball (assuming he can stay healthy) and Brandon Miller. Still, reports indicate that the Hornets are interested in re-signing Miles Bridges, but if they don’t, there’s going to be a big hole on the wing that a guy like Ingram — a North Carolina native — could fill while they hope 2024 first-round pick Tidjane Salaun develops.
Putting together a deal here is a bit tricky, because it’s not like the Hornets have a ton that they could give up, and it wouldn’t be wise to part ways with too much draft capital. But they can put together salaries to make a deal work and send some depth pieces to New Orleans — Grant Williams and Cody Martin get them there financially — and toss in a lottery protected first-round pick that turns into two seconds. We’ll throw Bryce McGowens in, too, as a cheap lottery ticket for New Orleans.
The Trade Hornets receive: Brandon Ingram Pelicans receive: Grant Williams, Cody Martin, Bryce McGowans, Miami’s lottery-protected 2027 first-round pick
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
We Are Lady Parts is the kind of show that makes a streaming service worth the cost of subscription. If you don’t have Peacock, you should sign up for creator Nida Manzoor’s rowdy, Peabody Award-winning comedy about an all-female Muslim punk band in the UK. The cast — led by Lady Parts members Anjana Vasan (guitarist Amina), Sarah Kameela Impey (singer Saira), Juliette Motamed (drummer Ayesha), and Faith Omole (bassist Bisma) — is great, and the soundtrack rips. Have a taste with “Bashir With the Good Beard.”
Yes, it’s another Star Wars show. But The Acolyte has a lot going for it. For one thing, there’s a Wookiee Jedi. All my 10-year-old Star Wars dreams are coming true. Also, the series is created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and the cast, including Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Manny Jacinto (Jason from The Good Place!), is solid. The Acolyte takes place long before the prequels, so there will be no stops on Tatooine or mentions of the name “Skywalker.” And did we mention the “hottest man alive”?
Dev Patel poured his blood, sweat, and broken bones into his directorial debut. Monkey Man follows a man know only as Kid (played by Patel) as he seeks retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him. It’s more than a John Wick knock-off — it’s a deeply earnest movie that also happens to feature some bone-crunching action scenes.
Presumed Innocent is guilty… of having an all-star collection of talent! Created by David E. Kelley and produced by Gracie Abrams‘ somewhat famous father, the legal thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a chief deputy prosecutor who is suspected of murder. Per Apple TV Plus: “The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.” Fun fact: Gyllenhaal’s character was played by Harrison Ford in the 1990 movie of the same name.
Hit Man is funny, sexy, and charming. So why did the crowd pleaser barely get a theatrical release? I have no idea, and neither does director Richard Linklater. “I don’t know,” he told Decider about the lack of major studio interest in his film. “Everybody’s scared. [The movie] was not one thing. It’s not a hit man movie.” Maybe if Hit Man — which stars the impossibly hot duo of Glen Powell and Adria Arjona — becomes a big enough, well, hit on Netflix, we’ll get a sequel that actually plays in theaters. Or better yet, sequels.
If you do a Google search for Aftersun, one of the top results is a Reddit thread with the headline, “Aftersun (2022) did something to me that no other movie has before.” The first sentence? “I just finished the movie about 40 minutes ago. I spent 35 of those minutes crying and just trying to wrap my mind around it all.” It’s that kind of movie. Aftersun is the stunning feature film debut from director Charlotte Wells about a father named Calum (a never better Paul Mescal) who goes on vacation with his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio). It’s unforgettable, especially the R.E.M. scene. IYKYK.
Before House of the Dragon premiered, I was concerned that it would be nothing more than a shameless extension of the Game of Thrones brand. A DLC to check out but not engage with. Those fears have been unfounded. House of the Dragon quickly proved itself a worthy successor to Thrones (which, disappointing finale aside, is still one of the best shows of the 2010s). It exists on its own terms; it’s possible to enjoy the high-budget soap opera without prior knowledge of Westeros. House of the Dragon won’t be the monoculture behemoth that Game of Thrones was. No show will anymore. But it doesn’t need to be. House of the Dragon is doing just fine out of Game of Thrones’ dragon-shaped shadow (you can read our review here).
We will stay short and not-so-sweet with random thoughts that I had while absorbing the entire season a few days ago. First, here’s a book-end approach:
– The first thought I had when the premiere-episode credits rolled: “Well, I’ve never seen that body part on a TV show before now.”
– And when the season-finale credits rolled: “I feel utterly destroyed. And invigorated. And destroyed. God, I love TV” (you can read our full review here).
If you write “Papyrus,” you can get Tilda Swinton to be in your first movie, too. Problemista stars writer and director Julio Torres as Alejandro, “an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream,” according to the A24 plot synopsis. Would you believe Tilda plays the erratic outcast? You would? Actually, yeah, that makes sense.
Fancy Dance is the first released film since Killers of the Flower Moon to star Lily Gladstone. That alone makes it a must watch. It helps that the premise is intriguing, too. The drama, co-written and directed by Erica Tremblay, is about an aunt (Gladstone) that takes care of her young niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) after the girl’s mom goes missing. Before she loses custody to Roki’s grandfather (the always-welcome Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road to track down the mother ahead of an upcoming powwow.
Here’s the thing: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a movie where a giant monkey gets suplexed by a large lizard. If you’re not already fully on board, you should probably, like, read a book or whatever. Nerd.
Meet your summer TV obsession. My Lady Jane is a “radical retelling” of the life of Lady Jane Grey, who was the queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was executed soon after. But what if none of that happened? My Lady Jane, which stars Emily Bader in the title role, is “an epic tale of true love and high adventure, where the damsel in distress saves herself, her true love, and then the Kingdom.” Also, shape shifters (with some Buffy thrown in there, too).
The most stressful show on television is back. The Bear season 3 begins soon after the events of the season 2 finale, with Carmy, Syd, Richie, Natalie, various Faks, and the rest of the gang getting ready to open a new fine-dining restaurant. There will be yelling (SO much yelling), food porn, and yes, Taylor Swift songs. Gorge on the 10-episode season all at once, or savior it over the course of a few weeks. There’s no wrong way to enjoy The Bear.
Studio Ponoc’s affectionately animated The Imaginary is about a young girl named Amanada and her make-believe friend, Rudger. Together, they visit a magical world filled with “creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it,” according to the official Netflix logline. The Imaginary is written by Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There) and directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who also worked on a few films you might have heard of, including Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. This one isn’t to be missed.
Beverly Hills Cop is an action-comedy classic (the Blank Check podcast recently did an insightful episode with Bad Boys: Ride or Die directors Adil & Bilall about the Martin Brest film). Beverly Hills Cop II is pretty fun, while the less said about Beverly Hills Cop III, the better. Even star Eddie Murphy agrees, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to make Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. A lot of familiar faces are back in the fourth installment in the series, including Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon are new additions to the cast. But there’s really only one reason to watch Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F: Eddie Murphy. Even without the laugh.
Whether you find yourself firmly on the side of Team Green or Team Black, there’s no denying that House of the Dragon’s second season has turned one of the show’s would-be villains into a surprisingly tragic figure worth sympathizing with.
The young British actor behind Aegon the Usurper feels so sorry for his character, his pity is practically contagious. After taking the reigns of Aegon late in season one, Glynn-Carney has transformed the stunted man-child from a laughable idiot with a mean streak to something more. His Aegon is still terrible, incompetent, too rash to ever lead well, but as the cracks in his very short reign begin to show in season two, a different side of the spoiled royal begins to emerge. Driven by grief, a strong desire to be loved, and a sense of betrayal by those closest to him, Aegon behaves more like a trapped animal than a man sitting upon the Iron Throne this time around. For Carney, that raw edge and unpredictability is what both excited and terrified him coming into season two. The question of what Aegon might do next is one even he can’t answer, a thrilling prospect for a star still finding his footing in his career and pushing his limits on screen.
We spoke with Glynn-Carney about Aegon’s rise to power in season two, the toll filming for over a year took on him, and finally riding a dragon.
Aegon is equal parts dangerous and pathetic this season. Which trait did you lean into more?
I really wanted to find every color possible to his palette. I wanted to make him as intricate and as complex as he deserves, I think. And yeah, we see lots of different flavors. We see a vulnerability to him this time. We see desperation. I think people can call him a villain as much as they want. I think he thinks he’s a tragedy — just a desperately sad story in a physical form.
There are so many Aemond apologists, but who’s repping for Aegon?
This has been the story his entire life. He’s seen as weak, he’s seen as pathetic. Just someone give him a hug for crying out loud!
Aegon certainly has a bigger role to play this season which requires more from you than in season one. Were there any scenes/moments you were unsure about translating from the script to the screen?
Every scene I did, I didn’t know how it was going to pan out, and that’s kind of the way I like to go about playing Aegon. There’s no part of me that wants to have a preconceived idea of how the scene’s going to play. It lends itself to the way he is personality wise. He’s very impulsive. He doesn’t think things through very much, and I always like to catch myself off guard and surprise myself in those scenes. For me, that’s how I find authenticity in a moment. And that just means it’s different every time, and they can just choose which one they like. I don’t deal with the cut.
There’s a transfer of power between Aegon and Otto in episode two. How important was that confrontation in terms of the rest of the season?
Massive. We start to see ’em pull back the reins. We start to see ’em take a bit of control and use his authority and put people in their place when they need to be put in their place. He finds it stimulating.
You finally get to ride a dragon this season. Did you get any tips from your castmates who’ve done it already?
It was actually, surprisingly straightforward. If you’re doing a full day up there, then yeah, you’re going to be tired. We had a lot of sort of strengthening and conditioning work that we’d keep doing, just so we had a pretty healthy baseline in terms of our physical strength and capabilities.
If you could play Aegon’s therapist for a day, what advice would you give him?
Be patient with himself. Stop comparing. Stop being jealous. Give yourself a break and go on holiday.
So much happened off screen between seasons one and two. It took years to film. There were strikes. How did that affect the cast and the vibes on set.
Yeah, you’ve got tunnel vision while you’re making this show and that’s how we like it. I think you sort of buckle down and stay in the zone and stay focused. Try and get as much sleep as you can. It takes its toll, but we all welcome that with open arms. It’s one of those kinds of once in a lifetime opportunities to be a part of a show like this and to play characters like these. We’re all very aware of that, and we’re all very grateful to be in the position we’re in, getting to bring these characters to life and share this fucking cool story with so many lovely fans.
Is there a lesson you’re learned from filming this season that you’ll take with you into the next phase of your career?
That’s a good question. I’m kind of still working that out. I’ve only been doing this [acting] for, well, eight years, really, so I’ve not had a great deal of experience. I feel like the responsibility to play a pivotal part in a project like this takes its toll, stamina wise, and you just need to make sure that you can keep up with the rhythm of everything. But I think taking your breaks where you can get them, surrounding yourself with people you love and trust as you’re doing it, you can be quite delicate in the process. And yeah, stay away from social media.
Tommy The Clown, a Los Angeles icon, was previously at Lamar’s The Pop Out concert (as were a number of other folks mentioned below). Here, he kicks off the video by asking Lamar for a password and hitting play on the song.
Whitney Alford and children
This one is perhaps the video’s most notable guest: Alford is Lamar’s fiancée and their two children also appear, with the four of them dancing to the song. These cameos are presumably a clap-back at Drake: On “Family Matters,” he alleged that Dave Free is actually the father of one of Alford and Lamar’s kids. Speaking of Free…
Dave Free
…he’s in the video, too. He co-directed it, actually, indicating that there is no bad blood between him and Kendrick.
DeMar DeRozan
This is a natural cameo, since the NBA star, who started his career in Drake’s hometown of Toronto before stints in San Antonio and Chicago, is mentioned in the song’s lyrics: “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither.”
Mustard
Another logical inclusion: Mustard produced “Not Like Us,” and he drives home the Drake diss here by rocking a Toronto Blue Jays hat in the video.
YG
YG found himself involved in the Drake beef: Drake gave YG a positive shout-out on “Family Matters,” and while some thought YG later dissed Drake on his song “Weird,” YG denied it.
Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith
After launching his career with Top Dawg Entertainment, Lamar has moved onto a new label arrangement. It appears to be all love between him and his former boss, though, as Top Dawg pops up in the new video.
Universal Pictures is hard at work trying to find the next great universe….again. We’ve has enough of those superheroes and little yellow dudes, now is the time to bring back the best genre for a full revamp: horror.
Saw co-writer Leigh Whannell is set to direct Wolf Man, a new movie based on the classic Universal flick from 1941. The studio is seemingly looking to reboot all of those monsters that gave you nightmares as a kid, and eventually you can even visit those worlds in real life.
Wolf Man is currently in production with modern horror icon Jason Blum on board, so you can ensure there will be a few genuine scares. Here is everything we know so far about the upcoming movie.
Plot
Producer Ken Kao confirmed to Screen Rant that the movie could tie in with Universal’s plans for more monster movies, but each story has to be told individually before that happens. The studio does not want a redo of 2017’s The Mummy. “I would say that the Mummy’s Dark Universe, in my humble opinion, felt like it was reactive to what was going on with all the superhero stuff — the MCU and DC universe,” he explained of the Tom Cruise action flick which bombed at the box office. “And we know there’s been a lot of talk about what happened with all that [in] the last year or so. I guess you could call it maybe more like the Joker approach. In my opinion, especially if you’re going to do it for contained pieces, like Blumhouse is really good at doing, [it] makes a lot more sense to me. So that’s a good playbook.”
Not much is known about the story, but we can assume the general plot based on the original film. The original Wolf Man follows a man who is attacked and bitten by a mysterious wolf in an attempt to rescue a woman, but then he started turning into a wolf himself when the full moon is out. It’s your classic wolf man story that paved the way for Twilight: New Moon.
As for the remake, it seems like they will modernize the story a bit, and perhaps offer a little bit more violence. It’s 2024! Everything is gore now. According to the logline: “A man must protect himself and his family when they are being stalked, terrorized, and haunted by a deadly werewolf at night during a full moon.”
Cast
At one point, Ryan Gosling was on board to play the Wolf Man, but he stepped down and was replaced by Poor Things actor Christopher Abbott in December 2023. Abbott will portray the Wolf Man/ Larry Talbot, a man who gets infected and turns into the beast. Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, and Matilda Firth also star.
Release Date
The movie was previously slated for a Halloween 2024 release, but was recently pushed to a January 17, 2025 release date.
Trailer
There is no footage from the movie yet, though filming took place in March in New Zealand, so a trailer will likely debut later this year.
John Stamos would like three tickets to Challengers please. Earlier this week, the Full House actor shared a photo with his former Scream Queens co-star Glen Powell where they’re both holding tennis rackets. “Where’s @zendaya when we need her?” Stamos wrote, a reference to her career-best performance in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, one of the best movies of 2024 so far. The film’s official Instagram account replied with the eyes emoji.
Why did Stamos share the photo, which appears to have been taken a few years ago? Because Glen Powell’s charm is irresistible, although the part-time Beach Boy has been a fan since before the Top Gun: Maverick / Anyone But You / Twister / Hit Man days. Back in 2016, they even shared a naked shower scene together on Scream Queens, which aired for two seasons on Fox.
“It was pretty awkward, but Glen is so damn funny,” Stamos said. “I at least wore a G-string or something, but he wore a very tiny… a medium-sized sock. We laughed a whole lot.”
You’re welcome to find that scene for yourself. Meanwhile, here’s the Zendaya joke:
Those were the words Carmelo Hayes — the top draft pick for Smackdown and a former NXT Champion — shared with WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul Levesque, as he made his way to the back of the Allstate Arena fresh off of beating Randy Orton for the biggest win of his career.
“And they were like, ‘You act like you’re leaving. You’re one of the guys now. You’re here now, of course we’re going to put you in these positions,’” Hayes tells Uproxx Sports.
As much as his time in NXT had prepared him, there are still moments that catch the budding star off guard. Hayes’ arrival in the most recent slew of top stars to the main roster comes under a microscope. Every win, loss, misstep, or success is examined and spit out in the instant reaction environment that wrestling fandom has fallen under. It’s up to Hayes to take every opportunity to show his massive potential.
That win over Orton provided a stepping stone for what could be the first of many heavyweight title shots, qualifying him for Saturday’s Money in the Bank ladder match in Toronto, with the winner earning a guaranteed title shot of their choosing.
“Focus,” Hayes says of his mentality heading into Saturday. “I feel like this is a good opportunity for me to really prove myself. In the Money in the Bank, I’m making myself the focal point. I’ve been in ladder matches before, I’ve been in these type of situations before, and I know exactly what type of game plan I’m coming into this match with. I feel like I’m just as prepared, if not more prepared, than everybody.”
The pressure that comes with this spotlight isn’t anything new. Each time WWE has put him in a position to sink or swim, Hayes has not just survived, he’s thrived.
“You’ve got to kind of throw me out there and just see what happens,” Hayes says.
His first two matches for the brand were an NXT Cruiserweight title match followed by a showdown with the brand’s biggest star, Adam Cole. After claiming the NXT North American crown (twice) and an 182-day run as NXT Champion, Hayes got his feet wet on the main roster by splitting time, jumping between the main roster and NXT.
Hayes admits he’d gotten “comfortable” in NXT, and in order to step out of that comfort zone, he had to test himself on Raw, Smackdown, and Main Event in front of the larger television audiences. “I think that was probably the best thing for me at that time,” Hayes says.
The move to the main roster as a first-round pick just two months ago came with enormous weight. That weight has only continued to stack on his shoulders in the hours, days, and weeks that have passed since he made his move to Smackdown.
His first night on the blue brand came with a matchup against the face of the company, Cody Rhodes, who he’d spent time with a year earlier by helping him get ring-ready in his return from a torn pectoral muscle.
“In the moment, I wasn’t thinking about pressure, I was just thinking this is cool. Cody is so cool, he didn’t make me feel like I was out of my element or out of my league,” Hayes says. “It was one of those things where I knew I was ready and I knew I was capable. The pressure didn’t feel as much because it was kind of like everybody around me knew that I was built for that main event scene, regardless of NXT, Raw, SmackDown, Cody Rhodes, whoever.”
Hayes hasn’t been afforded an opportunity to drop back into the background and gradually climb the ranks as another member of the Smackdown roster. He’s dealt with the ebbs and flows that come with earning your spot, including only one win in his first five matches as a full-time member of the main roster.
“(WWE has) been giving me so many good opportunities, I’ve just had to make the most of it — even in defeat. I have to shine and I have to prove that I am everything that I say I am, and over time, I think just with equity and things like that, people will kind of accept me,” Hayes says.
Statement wins like his over Orton will go a long way in building that equity.
“Pinning Randy Orton and moving forward to get into Money in the Bank, it helped my stock a lot. Believe it or not, people do track wins and losses. And they do matter after a while,” Hayes says. “I think there was a lot of pressure on me to succeed right off the bat. So, pinning Randy was just something that, for my career, I think maybe people look at me a little different. You know, it was definitely something that boosted my stock.”
As he’s mixed it up with veterans like Rhodes, LA Knight, and Orton, Hayes has learned on the job. The expectations and what it takes to get to the next level aren’t something he’s glazed over. The bar is set astronomically high to make it to the upper echelons of WWE, which he admits are a “different level.”
“Working with these guys, it’s learning that it takes years — I talked to Randy about that,” Hayes reveals. “Like, it took him 20 plus years to, he said, just now they started singing this song. So you just got to ride the wave and see where it takes you.”
Hayes is still incredibly early into what his WWE tenure will be. Failing to capture the briefcase won’t have a significant longterm impact. Pulling the briefcase down, however, could make or break his career, and on Saturday, the next step in his career will come into clearer focus.
Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer is a deeply dark parable and a gritty-yet-breathtaking film that manages greatness despite a notoriously WTF line of dialogue that will forever have Chris Evans’ fans chuckling despite the morbid subject matter. The 2020-launched series kept the movie’s themes and setup (based upon Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette’s graphic novels) but added a procedural bent to make it almost relentlessly unlike the movie, although the TV show did work. Actually, TNT saw fit to keep the show going for three seasons before filming a fourth installment, which was resigned to sitting on the shelf forever as part of WBD’s wave of project shelvings.
Well, AMC stepped up, and that fourth season will soon see the light of day to end the story. Let’s talk about what to expect from the final season of this mesmerizing yet nightmarish series.
Plot
The first three seasons of Snowpiercer are now streamable on AMC+ after the AMC rescue mission. Those set up the story that began around seven years after the post-apocalyptic wasteland environment began, and humanity’s only known survivors live on a 1001-car train on a never-ending trip around Earth. The train’s various cars reflect the social strata with class warfare abounding and dirty politics among leadership. The third season ended with Jennifer Connelly’s Melanie Cavill remaining onboard Snowpiercer with those survivors who chose to cling to perceived survival within Wilford Industries’ lauded creation.
Whereas the Big Alice occupants, led by Daveed Diggs’ Andre Layton, headed out into the cold where they will explore New Eden. Deadline has reported the description of the season premiere, aptly called “Snakes in the Garden”:
Nine months after Snowpiercer and Big Alice parted ways, Till and Ben encounter unforeseen enemies when Melanie sends them off the train on a reconnaissance mission. Meanwhile, the residents of New Eden face uncertain times and unknown adversaries, compelling them to further confront the complexities of their new reality.
The season trailer promises “a new beginning” and “a second chance” for humanity to inhabit the planet. AMC hasn’t revealed how far that story shall go, but this certainly moves past the film’s ending.
Cast
Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs will bring the train(s) home after taking the entire journey. Sean Bean has been onboard nearly as long, and other co-stars include Rowan Blanchard, Mickey Sumner, Alison Wright, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Sam Otto, Chelsea Harris, and Mike O’Malley. The final season adds Clark Gregg and Michael Aronov to the ensemble.
Release Date
The season premiere will arrive Sunday, July 21 on AMC and AMC+.
Trailer
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