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Unlike the rest of the Marvel universe, Guardians of the Galaxy has a relatively straightforward timeline. Sure, the crew ends up in some Avengers scenes in between their universe hopping, but their actual adventures all exist in their own mediums with a pretty standard timeline that doesn’t involve millions of different Loki variations running amuck. But, as with any franchise, you want to be sure you have all of the context before heading to theaters for the upcoming installment.

If you’re looking for the cinematic experience, Guardians of the Galaxy is the first place to start. The first installment came out in 2014 and kickstarted the ragtag team of space misfits. From there, the sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was released in 2017. The gang also appears in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame where the timelines start to falter a bit, but they are not the main focus. Of course, they are still worth watching when it comes to character development, but they aren’t standalone Guardians movies.

Next up is The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, a one-off special that dropped on Disney+ in November 2022. While it’s not integral to the storyline, it does bring back the gang for a festive adventure set before Vol. 3 which hits theaters this week.

But it doesn’t stop there: taking place in between the events of Vol 1 and 2 is I am Groot, a limited Disney+ series that follows the titular tree, voiced by Vin Deisel. But “voiced” is a bit of a stretch, considering the fact that he says only three words. He must have been resting his voice before Fast X. I Am Groot doesn’t advance the plot in any major way, but it’s a fun series of misadventures with Groot and Rocket.

Finally, if you’re already well-versed in the Guardians and need more adventure, the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series ran for three seasons and is currently streaming on Disney+, along with another animated series Rocket and Groot. While it consists of one-off adventures not integral to the central storyline, it will give you enough content to last until a potential new Guardians chapter…assuming that ever happens.

Fear The Walking Dead will return on Mother’s Day (oh, the timing) for an eighth and final season, and after that wildly oscillating show takes the last of its bizarre turns, the dream team of Negan and Maggie will return for The Walking Dead: Dead City spinoff.

Actually, the team is not such a dream, at least at the beginning. Goodbye to the tenuous truce worked at the end of the principal series because Maggie will never forget who bashed her husband’s brains out with a baseball bat. Because of Negan, Hershel Rhees is growing up without a father, and that’s where a new batch of footage (which you can watch at Entertainment Weekly) begins, with Maggie coming at Negan in her giant truck and then threatening his neck with her knife. However, she needs assistance finding said son.

Somewhere along the way, Negan ends up tagging along as Maggie heads over to New York City via a speedboat. Stranger things have happened throughout the franchise, but this still cannot possibly top Daryl in Paris.

Still, showrunner Eli Jorne has not only promised to reveal the most “awesome, disgusting, terrifying walkers” in franchise history but also more layers of the Negan and Maggie dynamic. I hope she gives him hell the whole time, though. He deserves it and, in fact, expects as much.

The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres on June 18.

Back in early March, Jenna Ortega made some controversial remarks about the scripts for Wednesday, and clearly, some of the writers currently on strike did not forget about the issue.

During an appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert Podcast, Ortega revealed the she changed her lines and repeatedly had to put her foot down on set when it came to how Wednesday would act.

“There [were] times on that set where I even became like, unprofessional in a sense, I just started changing lines,” Ortega said. “The script supervisor thought that I was going with something and I would have to sit down with the writers and they would be like, ‘wait, what happened with the scene?’ And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things.”

Those remarks sparked an immediate backlash from TV writers, and now, they’re getting in a few jabs on the picket line.

“Jenna Ortega better be back from NY for her afternoon shift on the picket line,” BoJack Horseman writer Nick Adams tweeted.

“Rewriting is writing! See you at the line, Jenna!” The Bear writer Karen Joseph Adock added.

Variety also spotted a picket sign that read, “Without writers, Jenna Ortega will have nothing to punch up!”

However, as the Ortega jokes began to go viral, We Bare Bears writer Branson Reese took issue with the way the situation was being presented by the media.

“I’ve seen these signs in person, they’re the most playful and harmless stuff imaginable,” Reese tweeted. “This is a bald faced attempt to weaponize an actress’s fandom against a union. F*ck off with this. Eat sh*t, in fact.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

The world of college baseball has been hit by an alleged betting scandal that led to Alabama dismissing its head coach. Over the weekend, gambling regulators in Ohio suspended betting on Alabama baseball games following “suspicious wagering activity” during the Crimson Tide’s game against LSU — while the game took place in Baton Rouge, the bets were placed at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, where BetMGM has a sportsbook. New Jersey and Pennsylvania have likewise halted betting on Alabama baseball.

On Thursday, the school dismissed the program’s manager, Brad Bohannon. While the statement from the university did not specifically say it was due to gambling, it did indicate that Bohannon is under investigation — a report by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball indicated that no Alabama players are under scrutiny, as the investigation is focused on the team’s now-former coach.

“Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne announced he has initiated the termination process for head baseball coach Brad Bohannon for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees,” the statement read. “Bohannon has been relieved of all duties and Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. There will be no further comment at this time pending an ongoing review.”

According to Ronnie Johns, the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, “There were a couple of bets made in Cincinnati, Ohio. One was on a parlay which involved the LSU-Alabama game, and then there was another straight-up (money line) bet. I was told it was a large bet that involved LSU-Alabama.” The Tigers won the game, 8-6. Per ESPN, both of the bets came from “the same unidentified customer,” although there isn’t any indication if it was Bohannon, a person who was affiliated him, or someone else.

During James Corden’s recently concluded eight-year run hosting The Late Late Show, “Carpool Karaoke” was perhaps the biggest segment in all of late-night television. The series has a well-known origin story involving George Michael, but it turns out that Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm also played a role in helping the segment become what it did.

A new video shared on the Late Late Show YouTube channel today (May 4) goes over the history of “Carpool Karaoke.” In it, Late Late Show executive producer Ben Winston explained how for a Comic Relief skit, Corden (in character as Smithy from his successful UK sitcom Gavin & Stacey) picked singer George Michael up from jail (he had just gotten out of jail in real life at the time). Corden then put on a Wham! song and the two sang it together, and the segment was a hit.

Winston continued, “We started to think, ‘Well hold on a sec… maybe… because we can’t get people to come to us… maybe we go to them, and maybe they drive around and they listen to their music and they sing along.’ And it just so happened that I had watched Curb Your Enthusiasm the night before, where Larry picked up a hooker on his way to baseball, so he can go in the carpool lane to get there quicker.”

It’s ironic that David helped inspire “Carpool Karaoke” since it feels like something the actor/comedian might not be the biggest fan of. Even when David guested on Jerry Seinfeld’s somewhat similar show Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee for the 2012 debut episode, he said after Seinfeld asked if he was excited, “I wouldn’t say I’m excited, but I’m looking forward to it.”

When David was on The Late Late Show in 2021, he also spoke about how thrown off he was by Corden’s set design. Revisit that below.

LA rapper and singer Xian Bell is six months removed from his album Crenshaw At Midnight, but he reached way back in his catalog for his UPROXX Sessions performance, drawing from his 2019 debut album You Were In My Dream for one of his most popular tracks, “Dollar And A Promise.”

Bringing along a DJ and a keyboardist, Bell showed off the fruits of his efforts in the gym as he rapped the emotive, apologetic song. The smooth track finds Xian working through the tension between chasing his dream and being there for the woman he loves.

Bell has begun to receive increased exposure in the past few years thanks to his collaborations with TDE rapper Reason and rising 1Take crew member 1TakeOcho. With the right push, he could be the latest indie rapper from California to catch fire.

Watch Xian Bell’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Dollar And A Promise” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Earlier this year, The Kid Laroi excited fans with the announcement of his debut album aptly titled The First Time. There have been some singles, including “Where Does Your Spirit Go” and “Kids Are Growing Up (Part 1).” However, in light of a new scandal, it looks like the kids are in fact not growing up.

According to TMZ, The Kid Laroi, real name Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, dined and dashed in Springfield, Missouri on Tuesday night (May 2) after his concert. At Dublin’s Pass Irish Pub & Restaurant, the singer was allegedly placed in a private room to enjoy dinner. The group ordered over a hundred dollars worth of food and then claimed they were stepping outside for a smoke break. The manager of the restaurant, Autumn Gray, says they never returned. The Kid Laroi has not yet commented on the situation.

Surely he has enough money to pay the bill — he just played Coachella, honoring the late Juice WRLD and Saiko with a tribute. “This wasn’t in the release plans, but I played it this weekend at Coachella,” he posted on social media, “and I just felt like the time was right for some reason.” He’s also set to star in a forthcoming A24 film Y2K.

Even though the internet knows all about Pete Davidson and his uh, Big Reputation, we can’t expect people to dwell on this forever. Sure, the guy is known for spreading the BDE movement, but that’s not the only thing we talk about when it comes to the comedian, right? Actually, it kind of is. But he also has a new Peacock show loosely based on his life, so, once again, the universe has forced us to confront Davidson’s weird “big d*ck” legacy, as it likely will for the rest of time. At least he owns it.

Davidson stars alongside Edie Falco in his series Bupkis, and while it might seem interesting to ask about their off-screen relationship, or how the series is influenced by his life, or literally anything else, instead, Falco is being dragged into the conversation. Hasn’t she already experienced enough over-the-top male energy for one lifetime?

When Falco was asked by The Daily Beast if she had heard of Pete’s legacy, she confirmed she had done her research. “Indeed. When I started doing the show, I started hearing more of this stuff. I started wondering, like, maybe I should find out what all this stuff means. I have my sources. I found out.” It’s worth noting that Falco has a teenage son, so she isn’t new to this stuff.

Falco said while she was aware of Davidson’s work, she didn’t know much else about his private life, which became subjected to media scrutiny after he had dated some of the most high-profile celebrities. “I knew he was on SNL, but that long ago became way too late for me to stay up to watch. So I had not seen anything he’d done, you know? All I knew was ‘he’s dating this person,’ or whatever,” she added, blissfully unaware of Ariana-gate. “I don’t know what else I knew about aside from his dating history, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I knew he was part of the present-day zeitgeist—a name that came up a lot. My kids knew who he was.”

Now, she certainly knows who he is, maybe even too much! Then again, we all know too much about Pete. And we love him anyway! Mostly.

Bupkis is currently streaming on Peacock.

(Via The Daily Beast)

It was originally reported that 113.06 million people tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl LVII. This week, that number was revised to 115.1 million, making it the most-watched telecast ever. As if one reminder of losing “The Big Game” wasn’t enough, Eagles fans watching Wheel of Fortune also had to sit through a painful puzzle.

The category was “Headlines” during Wednesday’s episode of the game show. The puzzle was six words long and ended with an exclamation mark. The contestants quickly filled in the blanks, and contestant Jeremy, after landing on a wild card spot and picking up a trip to Switzerland, solved the puzzle. “Kansas City Chiefs Win Super Bowl!” it read. They sure did.

“It was in all the papers. I think they even televised it this year,” host Pat Sajak cracked (it’s a better joke than the prank he plays on his wife).

With the winning answer, it meant that contestant Jeremy bagged nearly $15,000 in cash as well as a vacation in Switzerland. By the end of the episode, Jeremy had racked up nearly $50,000 to be the clear winner.

Chiefs fans also felt like winners all over again because of Wheel of Fortune. Eagles fans, who are famously chill and don’t hold grudges, less so.

(Via Newsweek)

Today (May 4) was a big one for Ed Sheeran: He was facing a lawsuit over allegations of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” for his own “Thinking Out Loud,” but the verdict in his favor was delivered this afternoon. Sheeran has shared his thoughts on the situation and he has mixed feelings.

After the ruling was handed out, outside the courthouse, Sheeran told reporters (as Evening Standard notes):

“I’m obviously very happy with the outcome of this case and it looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job after all. But at the same time, I am absolutely frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all. If the jury had decided this matter the other way, we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters. We need to be able to write our original music and engage in independent creativity without worrying at every step on the way that said creativity will be wrongly called into question.”

(The singer’s joke about retirement references a recent comment he made about potentially being found guilty: “If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping. I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it.”)

Sheeran also confirmed reports that he missed his grandmother’s funeral in Ireland due to the trial, saying that he “won’t get that time back” (as the Associated Press reports).

AP also noted of Sheeran’s immediate reaction to the verdict, “As the jury answered the single question of whether Sheeran proved he didn’t infringe upon the copyright in the affirmative, the crooner briefly put his hands over his face in relief before standing and hugging his lawyer. As jurors left the courtroom, Sheeran quietly mouthed “thank you” in their direction. He then spoke for about 10 minutes with the plaintiffs, including the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. They hugged and smiled with each other.”

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.