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Earlier this year, Morbius became that rare beast: an underperforming comic book movie. Plagued with poor reviews and bizarre behind-the-scenes revelations, the DCEU entry fared much better as a social media joke, which became so voluminous that a) star Jared Leto got in on it and b) Sony added more theaters, hoping chuckleheads would go see it. (They did not.) But the jokes seem to have eluded one of its lead actors.

As per The AV Club, Matt Smith — second-billed in Morbius, as our hero’s surrogate brother-turned-villain — was at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, where he’s there to promote House of the Dragon. The former Doctor Who lead was sitting on a panel, minding his own business, when one attendee thought it would be funny to make a Morbius meme joke.

“Matt Smith, it’s Morbin’ time!” the guy said, to which Smith responded with a legitimately confused-seeming “It’s what?”

The fan tried to rebound, awkwardly reminding Smith that he “starred in a movie recently called, uh, Morbius, which was great.” He then tried to salvage the bit, asking Smith, “My question for you is how would you character in Morbius fit into the Game Of Thrones universe?”

Smith then tried to sincerely answer his question. “Well, I mean he’s a vampire, so I think he’d struggle first off,” he replied. “I don’t know really know how he’d fit into the Game Of Thrones universe. I think he would be a fish of water, in truth. I don’t think he’s got the chops to do it.” Eventually, he tried his best to stay professional about a movie he’s in that he may or may not actually like, saying, “But I’m glad you watched a completely different movie.”

In any case, Smith has bigger fish to fry these days: He’s one of the stars of a prequel to a show that is widely perceived to have had a disappointing ending. Perhaps he’s already forgotten about poor little Morbius.

(Via The AV Club)

Earlier this month, Brent Faiyaz released his long-awaited second album Wasteland. While the project was his first official album since 2017’s Sonder Son, it was also Brent’s first body of work since 2020’s F*ck The World. Wasteland arrived with 19 songs and features from Drake, Tyler The Creator, Alicia Keys, Joony, and Tre’ Amani, however, there was a point where many thought the project would be released under a different title: Make It Out Alive. During a recent sit-down with Complex’s Jordan Rose, Brent explained that his second album did not undergo a name change, but rather a separate body of work was created.

“I still have a project I want to put out called Make It Out Alive,” Brent said during the conversation. “That’s still in the works—it’s just not this one, because I love the title Wasteland and I love what it represents.” He continued, “I have an idea in my head of what I want Make It Out Alive to be, but all of the songs that I have been making up until this point didn’t fit that title. I wasn’t in the headspace to put that body of work out.”

For what it’s worth, Make It Out Alive seems like the perfect transition from the events that conclude Wasteland. So, if the project does end up being Brent’s third album, it would be interesting to see where he takes things after the success of Wasteland.

You can read Brent’s full interview with Complex here.

Wasteland is out now via Lost Kids LLC. You can stream it here.

Jacksonville rapper Nardo Wick concluded his 2021 year with the release of his Who Is Nardo Wick? project. The body of work delivered 18 songs and features from Future, Lil Baby, Hit-Boy, G Herbo, Lil Durk, 21 Savage, Lakeyah, and Big30. Who Is Nardo Wick? was a great look for Nardo as it earned him co-signs from all over the rap world as well as an inclusion in the 2022 XXL Freshman Class. A little over seven months from that project’s release, Nardo returns with a deluxe reissue and a brand new video.

Nardo Wick gets back to work with a video for “Demon Mode,” one of twelve new songs that appear on the deluxe of Who Is Nardo Wick?. In the visual, Nardo is surrounded by his crew in a dimly lit room as they show their unity while flaunting their stacks of money and collection of jewelry.

The deluxe of Who Is Nardo Wick? features the previously released “Riot” and “Krazy Krazy” as well as guest appearances from Latto and The Kid Laroi, with the former appearing on a remix of “Baby Wyd?”

You can watch the video for “Demon Mode” above.

Who Is Nardo Wick?? (Deluxe) is out now via Flawless Ent. and RCA Records. You can stream it here.

Did you think that Las Vegas’ decadence couldn’t possibly reach greater heights? Wrong. Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) is nearing completion of a spherical arena that is in fact, the largest spherical structure in the world, and U2 is set to help kick it off in 2023 with a full-blown Las Vegas residency.

According to a Billboard report, the “MSG Sphere” is a $1.8 billion arena project that was originally announced in early 2018, but MSGE and head honcho James Dolan took over the construction in December of 2021. The MSG Sphere is off the Vegas strip, but close to the Venetian and will actually connect to the resort via a 1,000-foot-long pedestrian bridge. The report cites sources that promise the venue to be a “multi-sensory experience of sound and light inside the largest spherical structure ever created.” Concerts can hold up to 20,000 people standing or 17,500 seated. And you better believe there will be VIP suites; 23 of them.

U2’s residency will span across months, so the band will be a fixture on the Vegas scene for a while (watch out Celine Dion!) While no specific date has been set, the report says that the MSG Sphere at The Venetian should be ready in time for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in the Formula One racing circuit. The race takes place on November 25th, 2023, which is two days after Thanksgiving.

MSGE is clearly expecting this to be a successful endeavor because word is they’re already planning to open a second sphere in London.

San Diego Comic-Con is upon us, yielding first looks at stuff like the new Beavis and Butt-Head and the COVID-delayed fourth John Wick. Then there’s the Shazam sequel. Subtitled Fury of the Gods, it brings back the DCEU’s goofiest superhero: the wizard alter ego of a Philadelphia teen, played by Zachary Levi and Asher Angel respectively. But this time there’s at least a reference to others in Warner Bros.’ cinematic universe.

The trailer opens with what looks like Levi’s Shazam in therapy. “I don’t deserve these powers, if we’re being honest,” he tells an off-screen figure. He then points out how redundant he is. “There’s already a superhero with a red suit with a lightning bolt on it,” he says, alternating with shots of the Flash (though the troubled Ezra Miller’s face is conspicuously never shown). He also notes that he’s not as “huge” or “manly” as Aquaman, nor as “cool” as Batman.

But he does have his own things going on. The trailer introduces some of the new characters, including the villains: Helen Mirren’s Hespera and Lucy Liu’s Kalypso, both devious daughters of the titan Atlas. And because Shazam is the silliest of the DCEU’s heroes, there’s a couldn’t-resist bit where he informs Hespera that he’s “seen all the Fast and Furious movies,” which now feature her.

You can watch the trailer in the video above. Shazam: Fury of the Gods hits theaters on December 21.

Another year, another season in which the Los Angeles Angels look set to miss out on the postseason. L.A. sits at 39-54 on the year, putting them 11.5 games behind a spot in the Wild Card and 22.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West. Barring a miracle happening, the Angels will miss the playoffs for the eighth season in a row and the 12th time in the last 13 years.

All of this is happening despite the team having a pair of generational talents on the roster in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Apparently, Ohtani is piquing the interest of teams around Major League Baseball, with MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi bringing word that teams are calling the Angels about 28-year-old pitcher/outfielder’s availability. The bad news for those teams is that Los Angeles is apparently telling them Ohtani is not available as we get closer to the Aug. 2 trade deadline.

Ohtani came to MLB in 2018 after a productive career in Japan. In that time, he’s managed to make a pair of All-Star teams, got named the AL Rookie of the Year, and took home his first MVP award for his performance last season. Despite the individual accolades and his performance at the plate and on the mound, Ohtani has yet to make it to the postseason during his time in the league.

This year, Ohtani is hitting .256 with a .829 OPS and 19 home runs. As a pitcher, Ohtani is 9-5 with a 2.80 ERA. He is slated to become a free agent after the 2023 season.

The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award has been rather hotly contested over the last few years. Marcus Smart won it for his work spearheading the Boston Celtics’ defense during the 2021-22 campaign, while Rudy Gobert picked up the award for the third time during the 2020-21 season as the anchor of the Utah Jazz’s vaunted defense.

Each year, Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo came in fourth place — he and Gobert are the only players to register top-5 finishes for both of those seasons. Adebayo has not been shy about his belief that he’s the best player in the league on that end of the floor and that he deserves to have a Defensive Player of the Year award in his trophy case, but so far, that has eluded the 25 year old.

Adebayo appeared at a youth clinic the Heat held this week, and after being asked about his career goals, he stressed that he hasn’t forgotten those two snubs while stressing he has his eyes on the award in 2022-23.

“I should have won it the last two years and I will win it this year,” Adebayo said, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Adebayo is perhaps the most unique defensive player in the NBA, as he is one of the few players who can legitimately guard anyone on the floor and do a good job against them. He’s the lynchpin of Miami’s defense, and last year, he made clear that he found it disrespectful that he wasn’t a finalist for the award.

The original 2022 Rolling Loud Miami Festival lineup did not feature Kid Cudi in it. However, after Kanye West made a last-minute exit from the showcase, something he’s already done at another big festival this year, it was Cudi that they asked to replace Kanye. The ask is quite the timely one as Cudi has been active as of late. He just released his The Boy Who Flew To The Moon Vol. 1 greatest hits project and uploaded his beloved A Kid Named Cudi mixtape to streaming services. A Rolling Loud performance was supposed to top it all off, but his set on Friday night did not go as planned.

Throughout his performance, Cudi was hit with a number of objects by hecklers in the crowd — some of who were obvious Kanye West fans seemingly irritated that the rapper was replaced with someone he is at odds with. Finally, after dealing with enough thrown objects, Cudi issued a warning to the audience. “I will f*cking leave,” he said bluntly. “If I get hit with one more f*cking thing — if I see one more f*cking thing on this f*cking stage, I’m leaving!” Shortly after saying that, another fan threw an object onstage, and true to his word, Cudi made an early exit for the night.

Despite originally backing out of the festival, Kanye West made an appearance at Rolling Loud a short time later during Lil Durk’s set.

You can view the incident and watch Cudi’s reaction in the videos above.

There are few as bad at social media as Dr. Oz. And that’s a shame, because his opponent for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat is really, really good at it. Ever since clinching the Republican nomination in a state he only just moved to two years ago, the former TV star has been duking it out on Twitter against John Fetterman, the very tall and very funny lieutenant governor of the Keystone State. He’s been losing, badly. But occasionally someone who’s not Fetterman takes a turn humiliating him online.

On Thursday, Oz repeated one of this too few lines of attack on Fetterman: that he hasn’t been campaigning on the road. (As a doctor, he should, of course, understand it’s because he’s recuperating from a stroke.) He posted a photoshopped image of Fetterman inside an ad for Lost, the beloved/frustrating head-scratcher from the aughts. “Still looking for John Fetterman. Let us know if you see him,” Oz wrote in the caption.

It wasn’t very good or very funny, or very ethical. Indeed one of the tweet’s critics was Damon Lindelof, one of the shows co-creators (who also presided over The Leftovers and HBO’s Watchmen).

“He had a stroke, DOCTOR,” Lindelof wrote on Instagram. “And the island is healing him as we speak. If you actually WATCHED Lost, you’d know not to f*ck with the bald guy.”

If Dr. Oz is upset that one of the creators of a show he presumably likes hates his guts (and thinks he’s a bad medical practitioner), maybe he can get some advice from Ted Cruz. After all, he knows what that’s like.

(Via The Daily Beast)

The Phoenix Suns have been one of the best stories in basketball over the last two seasons. Long viewed as an afterthought in the Western Conference, the Suns made the postseason for the first time in 11 years last season, got to the NBA Finals, and followed that up with a 64-win season in which they looked like the best team in the league.

The addition of Chris Paul and the development of guys like Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton get plenty of credit for this, but one can argue the franchise’s turnaround began with Monty Williams getting appointed head coach. As such, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Saturday afternoon that Williams received and agreed to a long-term contract extension to stay in Phoenix.

In his corresponding story for ESPN, Wojnarowski noted that Williams had two years remaining on the 5-year contract he signed when he joined the team after working as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. It is unclear how many more years will be added to Williams’ contract as a result of the extension.

Williams has been named the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, and during the 2021-22 campaign, he earned the NBA’s Coach of the Year award. He has accrued a 149-78 record during his three years in Phoenix, while last season’s 64-win campaign set the record for the most regular season wins in franchise history.