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While Eternals is right on schedule for its November 5 release date and the next entry in the Spider-Man series is still swinging into theaters on December 17, just about every other Marvel movie has officially gotten a somewhat substantial delay, starting with Doctor Strange in the Mulitverse of Madness. While the sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange was originally scheduled to premiere March 25, 2022, the film has been pushed back to May 6. As a result, every subsequent Marvel movie is also being pushed back, with Thor: Love and Thunder moving from May 6 to July 8, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever moving from July 8 to November 11, The Marvels moving from November 11 to February 17, 2023, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania moving from February 17, 2023 to July 28, 2023.

According to Deadline, the drastic shift has “nothing to do with a change in distribution strategy for these films” nor are ” Disney execs immediately concerned about the future of the global marketplace.” Instead, Deadline reports, it’s all “on account of a domino effect going on with production and filmmakers,” as “some titles are contending with finishing scenarios while others are in production.”

While it’s a bummer to have to wait a bit longer to find out what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some fans have been quick to look at the bright-side of the whole ordeal. For example, the only other movie opening against Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 6 is now Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, which I feel we can safely say won’t lead to too much competition. In addition, no other big blockbusters films are currently slated to go up against Thor: Love & Thunder on its new date of July 8. While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever does hit pretty close to DC’s The Flash, there’s at least a week of space between the two, meaning you won’t have to pick which film to see (or hurt your wallet seeing both in the same weeekend) when the time comes.

In addition to all these MCU titles, the next entry in the Indiana Jones series has also been extremely delayed, shifting from July 29, 2022 to June 30, 2023. As of right now, it’s not believed the push-backs are causing any changes in the production of the films, so it seems safe to say you can expect the exact same films, just a bit later.

The Indiana Pacers will keep one of their core pieces around for a little longer than originally planned. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Indiana came to terms on a two-year contract extension with starting guard Malcolm Brogdon, which will keep him tied to the organization for the next four seasons.

Wojnarowski reports that this extension will pay Brogdon $45 million, meaning he is now guaranteed to make a little under $90 million over the remaining time on his contract.

While keeping Brogdon around is certainly notable, Bobby Marks of ESPN noted that there’s an added twist to this. Brogdon has seen his name pop up in trade rumors involving the Pacers and the Philadelphia 76ers over Ben Simmons, but because of this extension, he is no longer able to be traded during the 2021-22 NBA season.

After spending the first three years of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, Brogdon joined the Pacers via a sign-and-trade during the summer of 2019. The 28-year-old is coming off of the best season of his professional career during the 2020-21 campaign, as he put forth career-best marks in scoring (21.2 points per game) and rebounding (5.3 a night) while adding 5.9 assists a game and connecting on 38.8 percent of his threes. Now, the team has made a commitment to keep him around as they work to get back to being a playoff team.

Rolling Stone reports that Kanye West is no more — the Donda artist will now be known as simply “Ye,” according to the Los Angeles Superior Court and Judge Michelle Williams Court, who signed off on the change. Kanye initially filed his petition to have his name changed on August 24, citing “personal reasons.”

He later explained the change in an interview with Big Boy: “I believe ‘ye’ is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible, it means ‘you,’” he reasoned. “So it’s I’m you, I’m us, it’s us. It went from being Kanye which means the only one to just Ye being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, our everything.”

Far be it from me to judge anyone on goofy name changes, but that reasoning seems muddled for what is essentially just a shortening of his actual name (also, it betrays a critical lack of understanding of how the English language evolved in the 500 or so years since the King James Version of the Christian Bible was thrown together — something that Ye’s Nebuchadnezzar line reading already prepared me for a couple of years ago).

The name change isn’t the only big move he’s making; it was recently reported that Ye had put his Wyoming ranch up for sale, just after closing on a new home in Malibu.

There were fewer gulfs in impact during last season’s playoff run than Jrue Holiday’s menacing, versatile, overwhelming defense and his erratic, unpredictable, confusing scoring. When the Milwaukee Bucks opted to stop switching screens and keep Holiday tethered to Chris Paul in the NBA Finals, the Hall of Fame point guard struggled mightily to catalyze the offense the same way.

Holiday was an All-Defensive First Team honoree and looked the part as the Bucks pulverized teams defensively en route to a title. He was also a tremendous third scorer during the regular season, averaging 17.7 points on 59.2 percent true shooting (.503/.392/.787). Had he not missed 10 consecutive games in February due to COVID, there’s a chance he’d have received his second All-Star berth. That’s how good he was on both ends all regular season.

While the defensive chops translated to the playoffs and he remained a valuable distributor, the individual scoring became unreliable, when he averaged 17.3 points on 48.2 percent true shooting. His finishing and rim frequency deteriorated, he settled for more hurried midrange jumpers, and seemed to gravitate toward early clock pull-up threes on the break too often. As Milwaukee looks to defend its title, an improved scoring Holiday could loom large.

The Bucks should be a better team than last year. Donte DiVincenzo will return, who they missed mightily during the final three rounds of the playoff rounds. Acquiring Grayson Allen was a savvy move to add some shooting and playmaking. Post-title bumps for their stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, could be a legit phenomenon and both were better players by the end of the postseason than at the start. Maybe, they figured some stuff out.

Other contenders should be better as well, though. The Phoenix Suns bolstered their bench and can expect growth from the quartet of Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson. The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets were constantly bitten by the injury bug last season. Both enter the year seemingly much healthier, though Kyrie Irving’s vaccination status threatens to complicate the situation in Brooklyn.

That’s why a guy like Holiday being better equipped to handle the mantle of third scorer is crucial. Much of the talk surrounding Milwaukee last season centered on its diversified offense that was seemingly more playoff-ready. Yet when late May rolled around, the Bucks made most of their money defensively. They had the top-ranked defense of the postseason, while their offense finished 11th among 16 teams.

Some of that is because they played a handful of very good teams, especially the Nets, whose defense was stifling at times. But it’s also because Giannis, Middleton, and Holiday struggled earlier before the former two turned it on eventually. Holiday had some impressive scoring outings, including Games 5 and 6 against the Atlanta Hawks and Game 5 against Phoenix. Yet by and large, the Bucks would have benefitted from consistency. That hasn’t changed as their title defense begins this month.

Going into the weekend, news broke that Netflix fired the organizer of a planned employee walkout that was sparked in response to the streaming company’s continued defense of Dave Chappelle‘s latest comedy special, The Closer. However, that setback has not stopped the walkout of trans employees and their allies who have been internally voicing their frustration with Netflix’s refusal to grapple with the potential harm caused by the transphobic and homophobic portions of Chappelle’s special.

Scheduled for October 20, the event’s new organizers and participants — now formally known as the Trans* Employee Resource Group (ERG) — have shared a list of demands that includes internal changes they want to see the streaming giant adapt. Notably, removing Chappelle’s special is not one of the demands. However, the employees would like to see content warnings going forward as well as more concentrated efforts to promote trans talent across the company.

Here are just some of the demands via The Verge:

– Increase investment in trans and non-binary content on Netflix comparable to our total investment in transphobic content, including marketing and promotion.

– Revise internal processes on commissioning and releasing potential harmful (“sensitive”) content, including but not limited to involving parties who are a part of the subject community and can speak to potential harm, or consulting with 3rd party experts/vendors.

– Hire trans and non-binary content executives, especially BIPOC, in leading positions.

– Acknowledge the harm and Netflix’s responsibility for this harm from transphobic content, and in particular harm to the Black trans community.

– Add a disclaimer before transphobic titles that specifically flag transphobic language, misogyny, homophobia, hate speech, etc. as required.

You can read the full ERG letter here.

(Via The Verge)

If you thought Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. was out there, wait until you see what the team over at Hulu is working on next. Following M.O.D.O.K. (but unfortunately no longer leading up to the debut of the tentatively planned The Offenders series over on Hulu), the streaming service has revealed the first trailer for Marvel’s Hit-Monkey and forgive us for making the pun but… it’s pretty ape sh*t.

Based on the 2010 comic series of the same name, Hit-Monkey follows a Japanese snow monkey (voiced by legendary voice actor Fred Tatasciore) who ultimately dedicates his life to killing fellow assassins. However, based on the trailer, it seems there might be some deviations between the comic series and the upcoming television adaptation.

In the Hit-Monkey comics, the monkey who goes on to become the legendary killer gains his skills through disdainfully watching an unnamed assassin (Jason Sudeikis’ Bryce, in the trailer) train following his troop of fellow snow monkeys essentially adopting and caring for him following an assignment gone wrong. Eventually, the observant monkey attacks the rest of his tribe after they attempt to save the hitman from death, which he vehemently objects to, and he is ultimately banished from the tribe for his violent nature. During his banishment however, he finds a group of assassins on the way to finish their job and kill the unnamed man staying with the monkeys. When Hit-Monkey returns, the unnamed assassin and his entire, former tribe have been murdered, causing Hit-Monkey to take on a vow of revenge. In addition to appearing in his own series, the furry lil’ killer has also been featured in the Deadpool comics, which makes complete sense given literally everything about his character.

While it could be the trailer doesn’t paint the whole, bloody picture, it seems like the show will deviate somewhat from that premise, and the unnamed assassin will play a much larger part as Bryce, Hit-Monkey’s ghost companion who helps train the little guy. The trailer also introduces us to Shinji Yokohama (George Takei), a “kind politician with too much on his shoulders,” Akiki (Olivia Munn), “the smart and ambitious niece of Shinji,” and Haruka (Ally Maki), ” a good honest cop who wants to fight the injustice in Tokyo.”

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory, Office Christmas Party, The Switch), the crude comedy might remind you a bit of another adult animated series: Archer. This is because Floyd County Productions, the production studio behind hit FX series Archer, is the same one working on Hit-Monkey. The series is set to hit Hulu on November 17, 2021, and is the last planned Marvel series coming to the service after its planned Howard the Duck, Tigra & Dazzler, and The Offenders series were all canned.

Might we never really pass on into nothingness? Has the world ended many times before? Are we in fact doomed to spend eternity unknowingly jumping from one dimension to the next? According to one TikTok theory, the answer is yes. And it’s blowing millions of minds worldwide.

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Joli Moli (@joli.artist) is quite used to spooking and perplexing viewers with conspiracy theories and alternative hot takes. In her video titled “Apocalypse…again,” Joli introduced the concept of Hugh Everett’s quantum immortality.

Fans of the Marvel “multiverse,” are quite familiar with this concept, where instead of experiencing death, “your consciousness just gets transferred to a parallel universe where you survived,” the TikTokker explained.

Joli admits that this might burst the bubbles of those seeking the “sweet relief” of a widespread apocalypse. “If the quantum immortality theory is correct,” she deduced, “you’re just going to wake up in a parallel universe with no memory of the fact that you just survived an apocalyptic event.”

According to Joli, the only sort of clue or hint you’d get that you might have woken up in a parallel world would be “new Mandela effects.” You know, the strange phenomenon where all of a sudden there are two completely opposing memories of historical events? Yeah, quantum theory says that if you remember Curious George having a tail, you probably died in another universe.

Driving her point home, Joli added: “What I’m basically implying here is that in our reality, apocalypses happen every day … after the inevitable apocalypse occurs, you’re going to wake up the next day in a new reality, and the next thing you know, you’re going to find yourself on Reddit talking about ‘since when did Pizza Hut have two Ts?!’ Arguing with people who are native of this new reality, talking about ‘it’s always had two Ts’.”

I for one would never want to live in a Pizza Hutt universe. Blech.

Still not sold on the theory? Joli has further arguments: “You don’t believe me? Okay, it’s been about 65 million years since the asteroids allegedly took out the dinosaurs. … So you mean to tell me that in the last 65 million years, no other asteroids have come through the neighborhood, taken us out? You think we’re just that lucky, huh? No other super volcanic events in 65 million years? We’re just out there in space just dodging asteroids by luck, right? Earth doesn’t have a steering wheel.”

Hmmm. That’s a good point.

Joli concluded with the upbeat sentiment that “Earth is probably always being taken out, and our consciousness just keeps getting transferred to another parallel universe, and another one, and another one. For all you know, the apocalypse maybe already happened last night…”

So far, in this reality anyway, the video has 4.9 million views. And—as to be expected—the video left many feeling uneasy.

One user commented, “Ok, I’m actually kind of freaking out right now coz I’m not the conspiracy typa guy, but you’re like eerily making sense.”

A few resorted to sarcasm as a defense mechanism (understandably), like this Twitterer: “Thanks I was overdue for another existential crisis.”

The discourse got so intense, people were reporting physical side effects from the stress. One person wrote: “The thought of never being able to actually die is extremely depressing, and it’s giving me a headache.”

Another added, “Bruh, I’m just done with this anxiety. My body [is] emotionally [and] physically TIREDDD.”

One commenter, who clearly had their priorities straight, wrote: “You’re over here talking about extinction level events and I’m having to check on the two Ts in Pizza Hut.”

It wasn’t all gloom and doom though. According to indy100, some saw the potential of eternal life as a comfort against the loss of loved ones, while others finally got to make sense of their “world-ending” dreams.

If you have watched the original TikTok and are filled with burning questions, Joli posted a follow up Q&A video. A small disclaimer: You might be left with even more questions.

Though we may never really know what awaits us on the other side, it is interesting to think that we might live in a multiverse with infinite second chances. And whether or not this theory floats your metaphysical boat, it’s fun to contemplate on one of life’s biggest mysteries.

We love emojis. These modern-day hieroglyphics are the statement jewelry of punctuation in the digital age. Nothing quite drives a message home better than the clapping hands going between words in ALL CAPS, am I right? And who doesn’t appreciate receiving a quick skull to indicate that your joke was so funny, the other person is, in fact, dead.

Well, there’s a new emoji sheriff in town, folks. Odds are you’ve probably seen a little “red flag emoji” popping up all across social media posts. While these markers are indeed a warning, I wouldn’t be too concerned. They don’t indicate any real danger. Unless of course the one posting them was your date from last night…

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Just like in real life, the now viral internet meme signals potentially, um, I think the nice way of saying it is “problematic” behavior in a newly met person. Though red flags are commonly discussed in the dating world, they can pop up in any encounter. Whatever statement, strong opinion or otherwise awkward interaction that makes you think “uh-oh, this is not a person I actually want to associate with,” that is a red flag. And though red flags can take a serious spin, this trend is definitely taking on a lighter tone.

The trend originally began on Black Twitter, where users shared humorous dating warning signs, like “TEXT SLOW BUT ALWAYS ON SOCIAL MEDIA,” and “I’m cool wit all my exes.”

But like all social media phenomena, this has morphed into something bigger.

The formula is a simple: quote or brief description + anywhere between seven and a million red triangle flags (seriously, some people put a lot of them). Other than that, your red flag warning can be about literally anything. From controversial culinary choices…

… to misaligned movie choices.

And again, it doesn’t always have to be about dating. Like with this Twitter user who shared a less-than-desirable salon experience.

From fan accounts to celebrities and major companies, everyone seems to be joining in on the fun. Including Wonder Woman herself, standing up against the patriarchy.

Dolly Parton sent her “Jolene”-inspired red flag tweet that warranted its very own article in HuffPost.

Others, like Trevor Noah, were a bit more on the savage side.

Netflix used the trend to advocate against superficiality. Although truth be told I’m 99% sure they have at least 200 movies with this exact plot.

Brands like Pepsi and Twitter kept the messaging simple. Don’t like their product? Red flag.

You know it’s cool if the Teletubbies are doing it:

The trend has begun to morph again, as some people have used it to make fun of themselves, and all the red flags they ignore.

One Twitter user attempted to inject a little positivity by incorporating green flags to indicate general acts or words of kindness, like “what can I do to make you feel better.”

Though these tweets are generally fun to read, it turns out they are an audible hell for those who use screen readers. Imagine having to hear Siri say “triangular post on flag” (the emoji’s proper name) 40 times. Yikes.

Despite the reported nuisance, the trend continues to grow. And it doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. Look on the bright side: It might just be a lighthearted way of getting us all to mind our Ps and Qs, lest we find ourselves marked with the scarlet emoji.

When I saw that Vincent Price was trending, I assumed that it was for something Halloween oriented. After all, the man is pretty much the king of the holiday, is he not?

Much to my ignorant surprise, that was not the case. As it turns out, one Twitterer was giving the world a crash course on all things VP, and her informative thread received so much positive attention, #VincentPrice began breaking the internet. Many, like myself, were thrilled to learn a bit more about the Halloween King, who was actually a real-life hero.

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For those who would like a quick education on the man, or simply seek to fill themselves with renewed appreciation, keep reading! You just might find some fun icebreakers to test out at your next Halloween party.

He was the Robin Hood of the art world

OK, he didn’t steal anything, but Vincent Price would collect the original masterpieces of legends like Picasso, Rembrandt and Pollock and place them into a Sears department store for discounted purchase.

The exhibit, called The Vincent Price Collection, offered buyers a chance to purchase a work for as little as $5/month. Imagine putting an original Dali surrealist piece on layaway!

In his video promoting the collection for Sears, Price said, “Art belongs to everyone … [it] is the visual experience of man … done by extremely disciplined human beings who are trying to allow you … to see through their eyes the visual beauty of this world.”

He also advocated for Indigenous art

Price’s love of art transcended beyond Western cultures. He was also passionate about helping Indigenous artists prosper from their creativity. In addition to serving for 14 years on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, he also developed a creative writing award for Native students and read their poems aloud during his interview with Johnny Carson. And to top it all off, Price integrated their work into that Sears fine art collection.

And was an activist before it was cool

We’re quite used to seeing celebrities use their platforms to speak out about social justice issues.Sometimes as a genuine effort to create change, and other times, sadly, as a performative strategy to appear “on brand.” There was a time, however, when this was not normalized, and even had a certain level of risk. That didn’t stop Price. While starring in a popular radio show “The Saint,” he delivered speeches about racism and religious intolerance. Though delivered more than half a century ago, what he had to say feels relevant even now.

Especially this part:

“Poison doesn’t always come in bottles … marked with the skull and crossbones of danger. … Poison can take the form of words and phrases and acts. The venom of racial and religious hatred.”

Special shoutout to Sarah McGonagall on Twitter, who is clearly a Vincent Price trivia connoisseur and wholehearted fan.

Schooling everyone, she even had super exclusive, lesser-known facts about the Hollywood icon. Like the one about Price’s grandfather inventing cream of tartar.

Or the one about Vincent Price originally being the voice of Santa in “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” before being overcome with sadness over the loss of his wife:

As to how she found all these interesting facts, her answer is good old-fashioned memoir reading. She wrote “For all those asking, I got most of this information from the beautiful memoir written by Vincent’s daughter, Victoria. I highly recommend it in both physical and audiobook form!”

That book can be found here.

McGonagall ends her Price thread by noting her “favorite Price moment,” where he presented the “most devastatingly savage explanation of why humans are the most terrifying monsters of all” in his movie “The Monster Club.”

It wasn’t long before others started contributing their own Vincent Price tidbits.

One person tweeted about Price’s legendary memorization prowess, saying “The Hilarious House of Frightenstein” hired Price for two days to record dozens of little poems to introduce the segments. But Price was so fast at learning his lines—and never messing up—that they were done in half a day.

Another shared how Price, according to his daughter, was openly bisexual (along with his 3rd wife).

One person even posted Price’s cookbook, “A Treasury of Great Recipes.” For those who didn’t know, myself included, Price’s two passions were art and cooking.

Who knew that so much could be learned from one Twitter trend? One thing is clear, Vincent Price most assuredly deserves every bit of internet love he’s receiving today. The man not only gives Halloween a distinctly fun and spooky voice, he also continues to be an inspiration by standing up for what he believed in and expressing himself fully.

As this Twitterer astutely stated, “Vincent Price is just the Goth Mr. Rogers.”

Marcella Lopez didn’t always want to be a teacher — but once she became one, she found her passion. That’s why she’s stayed in the profession for 23 years, spending the past 16 at her current school in Los Angeles, where she mostly teaches children of color.

“I wanted purpose, to give back, to live a life of public service, to light the spark in others to think critically and to be kind human beings,” she says. “More importantly, I wanted my students to see themselves when they saw me, to believe they could do it too.”

Ms. Lopez didn’t encounter a teacher of color until college. “That moment was life-changing for me,” she recalls. “It was the first time I felt comfortable in my own skin as a student. Always remembering how I felt in that college class many years ago has kept me grounded year after year.”

It’s also guided her teaching. Ms. Lopez says she always selects authors and characters that represent her students and celebrate other ethnicities so students can relate to what they read while also learning about other cultures.

“I want them to see themselves in the books they read, respect those that may not look like them and realize they may have lots in common with [other cultures] they read about,” she says.

She also wants her students to have a different experience in school than she did.

When Ms. Lopez was in first grade, she “was speaking in Spanish to a new student, showing her where the restroom was when a staff member overheard our conversation and directed me to not speak in Spanish,” she recalls. “In ‘this school,’ we only speak English,” she remembers them saying. “From that day forward, I was made to feel less-than and embarrassed to speak the language of my family, my ancestors; the language I learned to speak first.”

Part of her job, she says, is to find new ways to promote acceptance and inclusion in her classroom.

“The worldwide movement around social justice following the death of George Floyd amplified my duty as a teacher to learn how to discuss racial equity in a way that made sense to my little learners,” she says. “It ignited me to help them see themselves in a positive light, to make our classroom family feel more inclusive, and make our classroom a safe place to have authentic conversations.”

One way she did that was by raising money through DonorsChoose to purchase books and other materials for her classroom that feature diverse perspectives.

Courtesy of Ms. Lopez

The Allstate Foundation recently partnered with DonorsChoose to create a Racial Justice and Representation category to encourage teachers like Ms. Lopez to create projects that address racial equity in the classroom. To launch the category, The Allstate Foundation matched all donations to these projects for a total of $1.5 million. Together, they hope to drive awareness and funding to projects that bring diversity, inclusion, and identity-affirming learning materials into classrooms across the country. You can see current projects seeking funding here.

When Ms. Lopez wanted to incorporate inclusive coloring books into her lesson plans, The Allstate Foundation fully funded her project so she was able to purchase them.

“I’m a lifelong learner, striving to be my best version of myself and always working to inspire my little learners to do the same,” she says. Each week, Ms. Lopez and the students would focus on a page in the book and discuss its message. And she plans to do the same again this school year.

“DonorsChoose has been a gamechanger for my students. Without the support of all the donors that come together on this platform, we wouldn’t have a sliver of what I’ve been able to provide for my students, especially during the pandemic,” she says.

“My passion is to continue striving to be excellent, and to continue to find ways to use literature as an anchor, depicting images that reflect my students,” she says.

To help teachers like Ms. Lopez drive this important mission forward, donate on DonorsChoose.

Courtesy of Ms. Lopez