The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

It takes several tries to get a hold of Drakeo The Ruler over the phone. This isn’t that unusual, especially when reaching out to a famous musician deep in their publicity run. However, getting in contact with the incarcerated South Central Los Angeles rapper introduces all-new complications thanks to Global Tel Link, the official phone service provider for the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail.

You have to be careful not to press any keys, or the system will drop the call. Every five minutes, a little voice reminds you that all calls are recorded — and likely listened to — for any information that can be used against the interviewee. And just trying to set up the multi-way call including the jail, Drakeo’s manager, and my phone involves Drakeo calling his aunt first to accept the charges. I try to be mindful that someone is actually paying for this call as we discuss Drakeo’s new album with producer JoogSzn, Thank You For Using GTL, which was subject to every one of these limitations and more.

For Drakeo, though, it was important to give his fans everything they’ve come to expect from him, even though he was forced to record his vocals over jail phones while awaiting retrial on charges of criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle. He’s already been acquitted on murder and attempted murder charges, but the District Attorney filed the new charges just two months later, resulting in a hung jury in the initial trial and highlighting yet again the failings of the US criminal justice system — especially when it comes to rappers like Drakeo.

As reported by longtime LA music historian Jeff Weiss, much of the State’s case relies on using Drakeo’s lyrics as evidence. That made recording the ironically-titled Thank You For Using GTL on the recorded jail lines even more fraught, but that didn’t stop him from bringing his usual level of creativity, authenticity, and narrative innovation to the 19-track project. Drakeo refuses to dumb down his gangsterism right up until the chilling closing track, “Fictional,” on which Drakeo playfully toes the line of hip-hop’s long-established kayfabe.

Drakeo is just as authentic in our interview, although I try to guide the conversation away from anything that may extend his stay in MCJ, which has already been two years too long. Over the course of the discussion, he detailed the difficulties of recording over the notoriously bad-sounding GTL system, becoming one of the architects of the new LA sound, and how current events have affected him while he sits in a cell as he is still presumed innocent.

So, the obvious question to start with here is, what is it like recording an album over jail phones?

It’s cool. I just have to tell everybody to be quiet and sh*t but everybody know me here so n****s just be cool. I really only did it because my little brother made me. You know what I mean?

Why did your brother want you to put this out, so bad, right now?

Because he said that I needed to put out new music because people would listen to just my old sh*t and they need to hear the new me.

Which is the same me, but it’s just the saying.

So, what can you tell me about the album? I see it has features from Rio The Young OG, Allblack, Lil 9. Tell me a little bit about those guys and how they got on the album.

These are guys that I f*ck with. So, Allblack, he been f*ckin’ with me. I f*ck with him. He always shout a n**** out, he always checking up on a n****. Rio, I like his sh*t because he reminds me of me, it’s crazy. He’s from Flint so it’s got my ear. I like that he say whatever the f*ck he want and he don’t care. And Lil 9, I just like that little n****. That little n**** hard and he deserve more credit. He reminds me of me when I was coming up and n****s didn’t want to f*ck with me.

So, I first heard about you, I want to say it was on “Out The Slums” with 03 Greedo. I posted the video where you guys were running around on Rodeo.

We do that type of sh*t all the time. So, I never did a video over there or nothing. I was just like, “Man, we always be over here with drums and all that type of sh*t.” So, I was like, “F*ck it, man. I got to do a video over here.” I couldn’t put none of that type of sh*t in the video because I’m doing my probation and parole, and stuff like that. But it was fun though.

What’s your background with 03 Greedo? I know y’all go way back but how’d you meet him? How’d you guys link up and what’s your relationship like now? Because I know you guys both may not be able to have a lot of contact with each other.

My brother and them, they was already out. So, they was f*cking with the n****s. I’m like, “All right. This n**** hard.” I didn’t know he was from out here but I know he Grape [Street Crips] and sh*t so I’m like, “He got to be from out here.” So, when I got out, first day I got out, I was in the studio, I was f*cking with the n****. Man, this n**** knockin back songs. He did like nineteen songs in one day. And I was just listening to this sh*t. That n**** be saying crazy sh*t too but he just be thinking that sh*t sometimes. One day he’s like, “Yeah, Drakeo, we’re going to do some sh*t.” I turn the song on and I’m like, “Yeah, we going to do something right now, then,” and it just went from there.

He was always cool. He wasn’t one of them type of n****s that’s like, “These n****s don’t like Drakeo so I’m not going to f*ck with him.” So, I respected that. I be talking to him sometimes but we both in here. [Note: Greedo is currently incarcerated in the John Middleton Transfer Facility in Abilene, Texas on drug trafficking and possession of a firearm charges]

The reason I ask is I read an article that contrasted your recording styles. Greedo does what you just described, just knocking out songs in one go. How do you go into making a song? Do you have the song already written or do you go to the studio, listen to beats, and figure out where you want to go from there?

That sh*t be already in my head but sometimes when I go I might have to change. I go do the song I initially already had in my head or wrote to, and then I just be in the studio, I hear something, I’m like, “All right, I can make something of this.” Sometimes I take my environment, or things in my past that I might have done, or been with people who did it, or things that I might’ve saw. I have a lot of imagination, I watch a lot of TV. So, people could be having a conversation in the studio, and I’m just sitting there, and they might say one word that might trigger me, and I’m like, “Yeah, this is going to be a song.”

Is that also how you approached Thank You For Using GTL? Did you go in knowing what you want to do as far as what songs you want to be on there and what sort of things you want to talk about? Or did you do a lot of songs and then try to pick the best ones?

Yeah, that’s why most of my songs be like that from the beginning. So, I’ll go in there, I might say one word or first couple bars and I’m like, “I’m just going to go off of the first word I said,” and then just turn it into something, and just keep going. That’s why I always start out with the first verse and then I think of the hook after. I try to figure out something that goes with everything I just said then I try to make it different. So, it’s like, “I got to make this right, this hook cool, but I need something that nobody ever said before. We’ve got to be different.” So when you hear it, you know, “Oh, yeah. That’s Drakeo.”

Absolutely. You may not want to talk about this but I just wanted to ask. What are the conditions like on the inside right now with COVID-19? How were you guys coping with that inside? How were they dealing with that?

They don’t really do sh*t for us. They give a n**** gloves — actually, they don’t really give us gloves. We ask for them but I just be in my cell and all that sh*t anyway. So, that sh*t is regular. They give us masks and sh*t — sometimes. They act like we the ones bringing sh*t in here when they bringing it in here. It’s crazy to me but it doesn’t really matter anyway because this is a closed facility. This sh*t is circulating dirty air anyway. So, it doesn’t matter we have a mask on or none of that sh*t. They don’t do nothing for us, they’re just sitting here.

What does it mean for you to have so much support on the outside from people who are trying their damnedest to get you out of that situation that you’re in?

It’s cool because I remember when I didn’t have nobody to say nothing for me or speak up for me. I wish it would be more people but I take what I get right now. Jeff [Weiss] always been there. I got Adam [22, of No Jumper Podcast] and sh*t now.

A couple of years ago I wrote this article, “Ron Ron, Shoreline Mafia, 03 Greedo, and Drakeo The Ruler Are The Architects Of LA’s New Sound.” Can you talk to that and talk about what it means for you to be the architect of LA’s new sound and what that sound is to you?

It’s crazy because when I first started rapping everybody’s like, “The f*ck? No, that sh*t trash. What does that even mean? You just be making up words and sh*t.” And now it’s like everybody wants to rap like me, it’s funny. It feels cool now though but I look at when I first started rapping and n****s wasn’t f*cking with me, it’s crazy. Even though some people don’t want to acknowledge it, it’s like, “Come on, everyone knows that this is cool.” When people bring up my name it’s not just like, “Oh, Drakeo The Rapper,” it’s like, “Yeah, you heard Drakeo? The n**** that changed LA rap forever. Yeah, that dude.”

Where’s the first place you hit up and what do you want to do when you get out?

Well, I want to go see my son. Of course, I’m going to get my son. Yeah, hopefully sh*t is open. I’m going to do the typical sh*t I always do, man. Throw a whole bunch of money around, hundreds of thousands. Go record a song. I’ll probably do a mixtape in one day. Yeah, that’s the type of attitude I have. Shoot as many videos as I could and just f*ck everything over. Just f*ck everything over on the streets for every single day I spent in here.

Thank You For Using GTL is self-released and out now. Get it here.

Netflix recently dropped a The Umbrella Academy quarantine video that was an affectionate take on a first-season fan-favorite scene, in which the cast danced to “I Think We’re Alone Now.” The purpose of that video, beyond showing that Robert Sheehan might truly be Klaus-In-Real-Life, was to announce the impending return (July 31) of this series, which adapts the graphic novels by Gabriel Ba and My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way. Now, the streaming giant has dropped some first-look images to show exactly what happened after the apocalyptic season finale.

Or make that… before the apocalypse? It’s complicated. Let’s back up: we last saw the Hargreeves siblings attempt to calm down the furious Varya (Ellen Page) while she used her recently discovered (by her) powers to embody the apocalypse that the group had aimed to prevent. Even while subdued, she inadvertently took a chunk out of the moon, which began to crumble down on earth, and Five (Aidan Gallagher) used his time-travel powers to grab the group and get the hell out of there, hopefully to travel backward and work toward deterring the apocalypse all over again. Where did they land?

As the below photos (and EW) reveal, Five screwed things up royally. Yes, he saved the group (portrayed by Page, Sheehan, and Gallagher, along with Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, and Justin Min) and took them back to the 1960s. However, they’re nowhere near where the family manor (ambiguously) situated itself, but in… sunny Dallas? Also, Five accidentally split the group up “with each arriving in Dallas at a slightly different point in time.” Not only that, but “Five shows up last and finds himself staring down the barrel of yet another apocalypse.” Lovely.

The Umbrella Academy returns on July 31. Here are those photos, and it looks.. messy. Well, at least Klaus is enjoying himself!

(Via Netflix & EW)

Lamar Jackson being the Madden 21 cover athlete isn’t breaking news, as the reigning NFL MVP let that information slip in a video for the Baltimore Ravens earlier this year, but until Tuesday we had not gotten much official information about the upcoming EA release.

That changed when EA dropped a Madden 21 trailer (for the current generation of consoles, so Xbox One and PS4), showing off Jackson on the cover as well as some of the gameplay updates for this year — touting improved control of ball carriers and pass rushers, more realistic tackling (which, seems to be touted most years), and user-controlled celebrations.

The trailer shows the MVP Edition cover, which is available for presale and fans who do purchase early will get to play three days before the wide release on August 25. Jackson offered a look at the three different covers he will grace, with the MVP Edition, Deluxe Edition, and standard game.

A number of former Madden cover athletes, including Patrick Mahomes, Michael Vick, and Barry Sanders, offered Jackson a video message welcoming him to the elite group.

Jackson will hope to follow Mahomes in shaking off the reputation of the Madden Curse, as Mahomes went on to win the Super Bowl last year and Lamar’s Ravens have their eyes set on a similar finish to their 2020 season.

When I was asked if I wanted to talk to Howard Deutch (to promote a new Blu-ray release of Pretty in Pink), that was a pretty quick “yes.” Coincidentally, I had just rewatched Pretty in Pink in the last few weeks, so this seemed like serendipity. And to make it even better, it’s been 34 years since the film came out and Deutch has, let’s say, few reservations about telling us exactly how things went down. From not wanting to cast James Spader because he was “mean” (Deutch did backtrack on that a bit, but said he wasn’t someone he wanted to hang out with), to the tension between Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald (that’s a whole thing; it somehow involves a stripper), it certainly made for one interesting set.

Ahead, Deutch (who is part of a huge showbiz family: his wife is Lea Thompson and his daughters are Zoey Deutch and Madelyn Deutch) spills all the beans (at least it seems like all the beans, but there could be more beans) about Pretty in Pink‘s behind-the-scenes shenanigans, which was Deutch’s first film as a director. Written by John Hughes, Pretty in Pink is, at its heart, a movie about a love triangle. Andie (Ringwald) likes Blane (McCarthy). Duckie (Jon Cryer) likes Andie. Blane, well, he likes Andie, but needs some time to figure it out because his friends don’t like her because she isn’t “one of them.” In fact, in the original ending Andie winds up with Duckie, but test audiences literally booed. So it was changed to Blane and the rest is history. (Also, a few years ago Ringwald said she believes Duckie is gay. Cryer has said he doesn’t believe that. So I also asked Deutch to weigh in, which he did.)

And he weighs in on Molly Ringwald’s claim that Duckie (played by Jon Cryer) is gay.

I find it weird that Pretty in Pink was your first movie.

I know. Me too.

One that we still talk about all the time.

Oh yeah, yeah. I have that kind of karma. Like in the Vietnam draft lottery, I was number one. Because they pick your birthday.

Is that true, really? Yours was the first one?

Yeah. I was the number one, but I didn’t end up having to go because there was a whole story to it. But anyway. My point is, that being my first movie, and it being such a success and not expecting it? All these kinds of crazy things in my life.

So the alternate ending when Andie winds up with Duckie? Were you surprised that it had to be changed? That test audiences didn’t like it?

Oh. Shocked! Shocked! John Hughes was also. Both of us were shocked, because the test screening was going like a dream come true. And then boom! The prom came, and everybody started booing. And it was like a nightmare! It was like, how did this happen? This story builds about true love and Duckie loved her! But, truly.

John was able to come up with the changed ending because it worked better. In the end, my lesson is that when women or a girl like Molly wants the cute boy, you can’t take that away from her regardless of the politics. I remember Rob Reiner said, “You can’t give the princess the frog.” So, I didn’t like it when he said it, but the point is that new ending, movies, to me, when they’re working, if it’s really working, it’ll tell you what it wants to be.

That’s a nice way of looking at it.

And this was one of those cases. It said, “No, no. This cannot be an ending.”

If Duckie and Andie wind up together, I think today it would be looked at differently. Because Duckie’s kind of an asshole at times.

Sure. Yeah.

It would feel like he almost bullied her into choosing him at some points in the movie.

Right. Yeah. Very, very true. But I mean, really, on a more dramatic level, I feel like, in retrospect, I can see that it would not be surprising. There’s nothing surprising about Duckie winding up with her.

True.

What’s surprising is, and just dramatically, you always want to be ahead of the audience. You want them to be invested, but you don’t want them to be able to see what’s going to happen, especially in a triangle. And that’s a triangle. And you want to have them guessing to the very last second. And the fact that John engineered it in the rewrite that Duckie sacrificed her? He made that sacrifice, which is always more moving to me. That he put her first and was rewarded for it.

Speaking of people still talking about this movie, I was watching Seth Meyers just last week and he was talking about how his hair’s too long because he hasn’t had a haircut in a while, and then he put up a picture of James Spader from Pretty in Pink.

[Laughs] Definitely. It’s crazy!

What was Spader was like then? That is a fascinating character he’s playing.

Not that different from the character.

I guess that makes sense.

Actually, I didn’t want to hire him. I said to John Hughes, “He’s terrible. He’s mean. I do not want to hire him.” He said, “What is wrong with you? That’s the character. That’s what you want.”

He was mean? He was mean to you? You’re the director of the movie.

Eh, I think maybe “mean” is too strong a word. But I thought, “No. I don’t want to hang out with that guy.” John was like, “Good! That’s the point.”

I’ve wound up watching a lot of Andrew McCarthy movies over the last few months. I saw an interview where he talked about giving up acting and becoming a travel writer. But he said he was drinking a lot then. Was that something you noticed?

Well, no. But he was dating a stripper. I remember that, but I don’t remember him drinking. But he was a very underrated actor. And I remember always being really taken with his choices, and I liked them. I dug him as a person, and as an actor. Molly was the one who said, “Andrew’s cute. We should hire him.” Yeah. And I was like, “Really? That’s the reason you want to hire him?”

I saw an interview where he said that you wanted to hire somebody else. That was a little more like a jock.

I don’t remember that. Maybe I did, but I don’t recall it. But I always listened to Molly because I trusted her instincts, and she was only 16. But she knew that movie better than me. And she knew that character. And she was like, “I’m telling you. He’s the one.” So, I auditioned him and met him, and I’d had a chemistry read with them. It was like they had great chemistry. And I thought, that’s going to work great. But he hated her. And she had a crush on him. And then she started to hate him, too, because she didn’t think he liked her. So I had to deal with that by telling her, “Oh no. He’s the guy. He’s afraid to admit how much he likes you.” And then I’d have to lie to him and say, “She really is crazy about you.” But what it did was create a lot of great sexual tension.

I could see a director thinking, “I can’t handle any of this,” as opposed to, “I’m going to use this to create tension for the characters.”

But the truth is, I always loved this Mike Nichols documentary where he talks about the unconscious. And he always talks about the decisions that he made as a director. The ones that he loves the most are those that he wasn’t conscious of. And when he watches the movie years later, he realizes he wasn’t even aware he made that decision, but it was his unconscious instinct.

You mentioned that Molly knew the movie better than you did, or knew the characters. Do you agree with her that Duckie is gay? Because Jon Crier has said he doesn’t buy that. But she seems adamant.

No. I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with that. He was just desperately in love and idolized her and would have given his life for her. And I thought he completely made that believable and fun and emotional. But no. I don’t. No, I don’t agree about that other part.

One last thing, the music in this movie is incredible. Is that a big reason for its staying power? “Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo and the Bunnymen is one of my favorite songs.

A lot of the music, I wish I could take the bows, but they were John Hughes’ ideas. He would play stuff for me because he was really music-driven. He had a connection with producers in London, and a record shop in London that got stuff before it even made its debut in America. And, for instance, New Order. I don’t think anybody used them before us. He played me a piece of “Elegia,” that piece of music in the hallway when Molly’s screaming at Andrew. That piece of music, I’d never heard it before. And he played it for me and we put it up against that scene. And I was lucky that he found that piece of music, and as much as I love Michael Gore’s score, but there’s a combination to the music in that movie that was really discovered by John. And I was grateful that he found it and that he shared it with me.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

The Roots declare the show must go on, turning their annual Roots Picnic into a virtual festival experience. The “hardest working band in show business” announced that their festival will livestream on YouTube Saturday, June 27 with performances from D Nice, Earthgang, G Herbo, H.E.R., Kirk Franklin, Lil Baby, Musiq Soulchild, Polo G, Roddy Ricch, Snoh Aalegra, and SZA,.

Throughout the concert, celebrities such as Chris Paul, Janelle Monáe, Kerry Washington, Lin Manuel Miranda, Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks, and Tracee Ellis Ross will appear to remind viewers of the importance of registering to vote in this year’s elections. Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote is a sponsor, with volunteers who will text voters throughout the show. Volunteers can sign up here.

The Roots’ manager Shawn Gee, who is also president of Live Nation Urban, said in the press release, “Historically, Questlove & Black Thought have always been very active participants in the voting process, however I felt that it was imperative that this year I open up both The Roots and my Live Nation Urban platforms as vehicles for both voter education and voter registration. Our goal is to aggressively impact change and we’re going to have some fun while doing so. This year, we are incredibly proud to partner with Mrs. Obama’s When We All Vote to ensure our audience has the resources they need to register and vote in November’s election.”

For more information on We All Vote’s involvement with the Roots Picnic click here.

Tune in to The Roots’ YouTube channel 6/27 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST.

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Our Longest Summer series will look at the eight teams whose seasons are now officially over, and will have to wait until mid-October to make decisions on what’s next and how to proceed after falling short of the cut-off for a continued 2019-20 campaign.

Following the acquisition of Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky, as well as lottery pick Coby White, the Chicago Bulls were on the radar as a 2019-20 playoff sleeper in the Eastern Conference. Though that kind of push didn’t come to fruition, the Bulls were competitive at times and, with the acknowledgement of injuries to Otto Porter and Wendell Carter Jr. and a point differential much better than their record, Chicago wasn’t exactly lucky on the way to a 22-win showing.

Still, the Bulls have a lot of work to do in order to form a legitimate contender, as evidenced by the fact that Chicago was omitted from the NBA’s 22-team bubble restart. Along the way, there are key decisions to make for new front office chief Arturas Karnisovas, and Chicago’s 2020 offseason could be pivotal in outlining their immediate future as a franchise.

2020 Free Agents

Kris Dunn (RFA), Denzel Valentine (RFA), Shaq Harrison (RFA), Otto Porter (player option)

2020 Projected salary cap space (assuming $115 million salary cap)

None, per Early Bird Rights

Areas of Strength

While there are a few non-bubble teams that are generally void of talent, the Bulls don’t quite fit that description. Zach LaVine is a proven 25-point scorer, Lauri Markkanen is an interesting talent and the club also has recent lottery picks in White and Carter Jr. to feature in their rebuild. In addition, the Bulls were able to construct an average (or better) defense in 2019-20, based on an aggressive scheme that maximized their talent on that end of the floor. It wasn’t perfect, but things aren’t completely lost.

Areas of Need

The Bulls… probably need a franchise player. With all respect to LaVine, his flaws are such that it would be hard to envision a legitimate contender being built with him as the No. 1 offensive option. Beyond that, players like White, Carter and Markkanen have considerable talent, but none are likely to reach that kind of ceiling. The Bulls also struggled mightily on the glass this season, and it is a team that has desperate needs on the wing, especially if Porter’s injury woes continue.

Biggest Decisions

Chicago is set to operate over the cap this summer, indicating that they’ll be able to use their mid-level exception but not much else. Markkanen is extension-eligible and, if the Bulls are able to lock him in at a discount, that could be appealing. Aside from that, however, Chicago must try to acquire (likely via MLE) a starting-caliber wing/forward to deploy next to LaVine and help out defensively. The Bulls also have their own lottery pick and, on a lesser level, a decision on Kris Dunn will be needed, both in whether to tender a qualifying offer and how much monetary investment the team is willing to offer. There’s also the looming question of whether Jim Boylen will be the coach next season, or if Karnisovas will want to bring in his preferred coach during this lengthy offseason period.

Overall Offseason Focus

It would be fair to say that Chicago’s roster is a bit better than their 2019-20 record would indicate, especially if Porter Jr. opts in (likely) and stays healthy (less assured). The Bulls do need sweeping changes in order to really make a leap, however, and aiming for star power, either in the draft or via trade using that selection, is a necessity at some point in the cycle. Chicago does have a new front office structure as well, leaving even more uncertainty, but the Bulls are a team to closely monitor as they make significant decisions about their core in the coming months.

In light of what is going on in the US at the moment (one of the things, anyway), the country group formerly known as Lady Antebellum changed their name. In a move they admitted is long overdue, the group renamed themselves to Lady A, truncating “Antebellum” due to the word’s ties to slavery. Not everybody was happy with the change, though: A gospel singer who has performed as Lady A for two decades offered some strong criticisms of the band’s new name, especially due to the fact that she never heard from the group.

Now, though, the two parties have connected. The band shared a screenshot of a video call they had with the singer, and wrote on Instagram, “Today, we connected privately with the artist Lady A. Transparent, honest, and authentic conversations were had. We are excited to share we are moving forward with positive solutions and common ground. The hurt is turning into hope. More to come.” Also on the call were two artists who perform with the singer, John Oliver III of Gleanings Community Bible Church and Dexter Allen.

The singer also shared the post with the same caption. On her Instagram Story, she shared somebody else’s Story, in which they posted a screenshot of an article about the name controversy. The person wrote, “Do a song together? In the spirit of racial reconciliation? Be next Lil NazX and Billy Ray.” Lady A did not add a comment to the post.

Ahead of the call, Lady A the singer said of the band, “They’re using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time. If it mattered, it would have mattered to them before. It shouldn’t have taken George Floyd to die for them to realize that their name had a slave reference to it. It’s an opportunity for them to pretend they’re not racist or pretend this means something to them.” Thankfully, though, it now appears the singer and the band have come to some sort of understanding.

For the first time in its decades-long history, there will be no San Diego Comic-Con this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But just like SDCC fixture Bender building his own theme park, Warner Bros. is hosting its own comic-con, minus the blackjack.

On August 22, Warner Bros will launch DC FanDome, a “free, global, 24-hour virtual convention” with “special programming, panels, and content reveals from a wide variety of films, TV series, and games,” according to the convention’s official website. Those who “attend” will hear from the cast and creators of DC titles, like Aquaman, The Batman, Black Adam, Doom Patrol, The Flash, Harley Quinn, SHAZAM!, The Suicide Squad, Supergirl, Teen Titans GO!, Watchmen, and Wonder Woman 1984, as well as the fabled Snyder Cut of Justice League. Just what it needs, more online attention.

“There is no fan like a DC fan. For more than 85 years, the world has turned to DC’s inspiring heroes and stories to lift us up and entertain us, and this massive, immersive digital event will give everyone new ways to personalize their journey through the DC Universe without lines, without tickets and without boundaries,” Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff said in a statement. “With DC FanDome, we’re able to give fans from around the world an exciting and unparalleled way to connect with all their favorite DC characters, as well as the incredible talent who bring them to life on the page and screen.”

Fans are being asked to “show us your cosplay, makeup, tattoos, and your own Batcave,” although maybe not that last one. No one needs to see this guy’s cave.

(Via DC)

DC’s most f*cked up group of superheroes is about to find a wider audience. That’s the goal for Warner Bros. Doom Patrol TV show (which is critically acclaimed but criminally under-watched on the DC Universe service) receiving a snazzy second home at HBO Max next week when its second season launches. For those of you who might have superhero fatigue, it’s worth noting that this show actually doesn’t feel very superhero-ey in the conventional sense. Yes, there are action scenes and world-saving stakes, but more prominently, this is a methodically paced show with character development at the forefront. It’s a buffet of complicated, traumatized souls, each bestowed with powers and unwittingly brought together for (some sort of) greater good.

You can also catch up on the show’s essential points with a recent trailer aimed at drawing in new eyeballs. There are rapid-fire introductions to Cliff Steele/Robotman (Brendan Fraser), Larry Trainor/Negative Man (Matt Bomer), Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), and Victor Stone/Cyborg (Joivan Wade). The most interesting player, however, would be Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero from Orange Is The New Black), who’s front and center in the above image. Sadly, we saw no Karen in the trailer, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for her return, so she can receive more comeuppance.

Karen, for the uninitiated, is one of Jane’s 60+ mostly abrasive personalities. She also happens to be the worst iteration of Jane that we’ve seen so far. Of course, recent news stories have been full of “Karens” — the slang term for insufferable white women who ask “to speak to the manager” and have been known to call police in a racially charged fit of hysteria — so this Jane incarnation (who first surfaces in episode 8, “Danny Patrol”) suggests shades of relevance to the Karen memes you’ve seen online.

She’s perky, she’s blonde, and she’s full of harsh judgments. Karen (who’s described as a “dangerous” presence as well as a “basic b*tch Barbie”) is insidious in a way that Rita didn’t quite grasp at first. She guessed that Karen only wanted to be happy, but it’s a front. In reality, Karen’s powerful enough to cast “love spells” in order to overtake Jane’s body forever and vanquish the other (diverse) personalities. She initially seemed harmless while enthusiastically gushing over marrying “Dougie!” but don’t be fooled. Karen’s a bad egg, and she later grew furious when her big day was ruined by the well-meaning Doom Patrol co-members who worked to resuscitate the “real” Jane.

Well, the group managed to knock Karen out of Jane’s body, and the bland and useless Dougie barely escaped with his life, but things only grew more complicated. Karen got whisked away to the Underground, where she was confronted and imprisoned by Jane’s other personalities in the next episode, “Jane Patrol.” There, the various forms of her being (including Scarlet Harlot, Mama Pentecost, Hammerhead, and The Nun) were represented in physical form, and oh boy, I can’t wait to get to know some of them further in future episodes. They were not at all thrilled at how Karen attempted to put an end to them with her marriage and dreams of a perfect Stepford-Wife life. Those hopes weren’t realized, and the show was better for squashing Karen’s intentions.

Is she actually gone, though? Nope. Karen very briefly surfaced in Episode 12 with another love spell before Jane broke through her consciousness and took charge once more. That can’t be the end of her, and having a “Karen” on this show — a character who aims to forever sideline any culturally diverse presences, even if she hasn’t said anything outwardly racist — couldn’t be more timely, given that the show’s not exactly politically correct but still aims to land on the right side of history.

By the way, I do wish that I could credit Doom Patrol for being prescient in highlighting Karen’s existence as a “Karen,” but the show’s timing won’t allow that leap. The first season aired in 2019, and the Karen memes have been circulating for at least a few years. And Guerrero’s Karen doesn’t seem as immediately horrifying as the Karens who get spotlighted on Twitter, but you can’t possibly look at these demonic eyes and imagine this personality by another name, right? Definitely a Karen.

Where she goes from here, I can’t guess. Season 2 has been throwing up Wizard of Oz vibes with the trailer, and Season 1 ended with The Chief (Timothy Dalton) revealing his Dorothy-like daughter (Abigail Shapiro). Each member of the Doom Patrol is also still sifting through their baggage and trauma while processing feelings of betrayal toward The Chief. I can only hope that Karen, who tends to surface when Jane is most stressed, will get more face time. There are certainly enough real-life Karens running around these days that could have inspired the writers to give her another antagonistic run.

‘Doom Patrol’s second season comes to HBO Max (and the DC Universe streaming service) on June 25.