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The Disney+ cycle of Marvel limited series has moved on from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to Loki, with new episodes following the trickster god coming out on Wednesdays over the next few weeks. But fans of the MCU are still buzzing about WandaVision, and we’re starting to learn more about how secretive things were in the show’s casting process.

In fact, one pivotal actor in the show’s limited run essentially had no idea what she was auditioning for. Teyonah Parris, who played Monica Rambeau and helped set the stage for various other parts of the MCU in the process, apparently had little context and “no clue” what the connection was between the scenes she used in her audition.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Parris talked about a number of things, including her great stretch as Dawn on Mad Men. But the main part of the interview was about WandaVision, and she the way she describes it, landing the part sounds… confusing. When asked about the audition, she revealed that she didn’t know very much at all. Mild spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the show.

I knew it was Marvel, but that’s about it. I didn’t know the context, just the sides for what I now know was the scene between Monica, as Geraldine, and Wanda [Elizabeth Olsen], when Wanda’s water breaks and that stork was walking around, and the scene where Monica wakes up from the blip. Imagine being given those two scenes and told it’s the same character! I had no clue. So, I had to play broad sitcom and drama.

It’s funny to imagine those very different characters being in the same universe, but given that she took part in both realities during WandaVision, it’s no surprise that Parris was able to handle the casting process. And with Rambeau teased as having a big future in the MCU, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more of her in the future.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

People in the gaming industry have said for months how Xbox needed to come into this summer and make a statement at E3. The console giant may have the best deal in video games with Game Pass, but without exclusive titles or console sellers it was hard to convince people why they should be purchasing an Xbox Series X/S over a PlayStation 5. It was imperative that Xbox came out and showed everyone they were more than a service-based company and that, while the box isn’t as important as it used to be, it still is a focal point of their business.

Now that the dust has settled on the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, it seems clear that the message was received. Xbox didn’t just come out swinging, they brought everything they had and in a year where it looks like Sony isn’t going to be showing anything at all around E3. Of course, this presentation wasn’t just about Xbox, but it was also a Bethesda showcase. The longtime developer of titles like Elder Scrolls and Fallout was recently purchased by Microsoft and this was their opportunity to show what they plan to do now that they have the Xbox backing them up.

Starfield

Bethesda and Xbox’s first trailer was a game that has been in development under Bethesda for a long time. The long-awaited Starfield. They say this is a game 25 years in the making so obviously, the expectations behind it are high. We can’t wait to see what the final product will look like, but we’re gonna have to wait until late 2022 to see it in action.

Game Pass

Xbox has been pushing Game Pass for a long time, but this event made it clear just how much they’re putting behind their flagship service. Every decision Xbox makes these days has Game Pass in mind and with the purchase of Bethesda, they have decades of games to put on their flagship platform. Not to mention the flurry of games they already have on there, such as the entire Yakuza series, and a plethora of Rare games. There just isn’t a better deal in video games right now than Game Pass.

Some of the games announced that were coming to Game Pass include:

• Yakuza: Like a Dragon
• Among Us
• Hades
• Back 4 Blood (not released yet)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 (not released yet)

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite may have had a rough reveal back in 2020, but it had a much stronger showing at E3 2021. The multiplayer going free-to-play is a massive win for Microsoft and the new campaign trailer was intriguing. With a Holiday 2021 release coming we’re finally going to be playing a new Halo again before the end of the year. That’s such an exciting sentence to say.

Eiyuden Chronicles

Eiyuden Chronicles is a game that most people are not going to care about, but longtime JRPG fans were losing their minds at this trailer because the inspirations of it were very clear. This is a Suikoden game in the year 2021 and fans of the Suiokden series will go on endlessly about how it’s a classic franchise that everyone needs to play. It may not be Suikoden proper, but it looks like a good and fun JRPG-style game.

The Outer Worlds 2

This trailer didn’t show us more than a comedic cinematic, but it was a bit of a surprise announcement here. The Outer Worlds came out back in 2019, but it was a game ripe for a sequel. It’s a good announcement trailer and there’s anticipation to learn more about what this game will be like, we’ll just have to wait a bit to see more here.

Forza Horizon 5

The Forza Horizon series has always been a glorified tech demo for next gen consoles. Look at the really pretty car drive in the really pretty environments. That aspect absolutely delivered here, with incredibly lifelike backdrops for car races.

That said, Forza Horizon 5 did show a little bit of promise. It apparently has a Battle Royale mode, which was unexpected, and the arcade aspects look really fun. There’s more to this game than cars going fast and it might pull in some non-racing fans as a result of that.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

This was a major surprise mainly because the flight simulator games have always been PC-only. Even so, this is one of the best simulation games ever made and the more people who play it, the better. There’s a sense of wonder that comes with taking a flight anywhere in the world and the real life aspects of the game, such as actual fight and weather patterns, make it a technical marvel. Add in the Top Gun expansion, for those of us that want to fly fast or wild, and this is a must get game for any Xbox owner.

Shredders

Remember when there were way more snowboarding games? 1080 Avalanche, SSX Tricky, Snowboard Kids, etc. So many of us grew up playing these and they just kinda fell out of popularity as consoles advanced. Which is disappointing, because consoles have evolved in a way where we can get some really gorgeous snowy mountain landscapes. Games that look like Shredders. All we got was a little bit of gameplay and, frankly, that’s all we needed. Let’s hope this game does well so we can get more snowboarding games. That’s a genre that needs to come back.

Another Mini Fridge?

Remember when the Xbox Series X was announced and everyone joked it looked like a mini fridge? Then they sent out some actual mini fridges and everyone got a laugh? Well now, fans can buy their own Xbox mini fridge this holiday season. Got a game room and need a place to keep some cold drinks? Xbox has got you covered with one of the more ridiculous items they’re going to be selling this holiday season. It still made us laugh though!

Lil Baby and Lil Durk were two of the most popular hip-hop artists in 2020. The former’s My Turn was the best-selling album of the year, while the latter went next level with Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and The Voice. This year, the rappers decided to bring their talents together for their joint album, Voice Of The Heroes, which has just debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts.

The team-up topped the Billboard 200 chart with 150,000 units sold in its first week — a number that’s comprised of 144,000 streaming equivalent album units and 4,000 pure album sales. It also marks Lil Baby’s second No. 1 after My Turn topped the charts for five non-consecutive weeks last year. Meanwhile, Voice Of The Heroes is Lil Durk’s first No. 1 album. His previous high for a project was No. 2, which he achieved twice in 2020 thanks to the one-two punch of Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and The Voice.

Other highlights on the chart include Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour at No. 2, J. Cole’s The Off-Season at No. 4, and Moneybagg Yo’s A Gangsta’s Pain at No. 6.

Check out our review of Voice Of The Heroes here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

On Sunday, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics gave fans a closer look at the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers: War for Wakanda expansion coming later this summer. Based on the trailer, the game follows the fourth person to don the mask and take on the role of Wakanda’s Black Panther as he takes down the classic Marvel villain Ulysses Klaue, or simply “Klaw” for short.

In addition, we got a pretty good look at Wakanda and the unique enemies the Avengers will take on as they protect it from the notorious Vibranium thief.

As you can see from the trailer — and as expected — Wakanda looks lush and beautiful, and the diversity in environment, enemies, and characters included in the upcoming expansion could bring a breath of fresh air to a game that’s had… a few issues in its first few months.

Since Marvel’s Avengers release, two characters have been added to the game, both iterations of Hawkeye: Kate Bishop and Clint Barton. King T’Challa marks the third new arrival, and will be followed by Spider-Man, who, unfortunately for Xbox players, will be exclusive to PlayStation.

However, all players regardless of console will be able to enjoy Marvel’s Avengers: War for Wakanda for free once it launches which, according to the trailer description, should be sometime in August.

You don’t hear from Eric Trump as often as you hear from the president-turned-failed blogger’s other kids. In fact, you see his wife, former Inside Edition producer Lara Trump, in the news more often. There was even talk of her running for Senate, plans which appear to now be scotched. She’s also known for allegedly funneling money from a dog charity to line her father-in-law’s pockets. But even though she married into one of the world’s most controversial families, she’s shown she can play as hard as they can. For instance, she, too, can say things that sound an awful lot like an incitement to violence.

On Saturday night, while parts of the nation were enjoying a lovely late spring night out after a year-plus of lockdown, Lara was busy yapping on Fox News with Judge Jeanine Pirro. The two were talking about the ongoing crisis at the Southern border, which has seen an influx in migrant crossing. Of late conservative commentators have targeted Vice President Kamala Harris over what they see is her mishandling of the situation. Lara Trump was no different.

“She thinks she can just laugh off the crisis at the border and it’s embarrassing,” claimed Trump. She then offered some advice for denizens down South. “I don’t know what you tell the people that live at the southern border. I guess they better arm up and get ready, and maybe they will have to take matters into their own hands.”

She also had some advice for those fleeing dangerous situations in other countries for a better life: “People should never make this dangerous journey here. It’s bad for Americans. It’s bad for the migrants. It’s bad all around.”

But most people dwelled on the first part: the one where she told people to buy guns and “take matters into their own hands.” People called it out for what it was: an incitement to violence that, if heeded, could inflame an already powder keg situation.

Others took aim at Lara Trump herself.

Throughout his presidency, and in the lead-up to it, Lara Trump’s father-in-law was infamous for similar rhetoric. He told his legions to attack reporters and leftwing activists, even claiming he’d cover their legal bills. So even though Lara’s not a blood relation, such rancid beliefs clearly run in the family.

(Via Mediaite)

After the Nets dominated the first two games in Brooklyn, the Bucks made their second round series much more interesting with a hard fought win in Game 3. Game 4 had a similar vibe to it, with both teams trading runs in what was a hotly contested first half, but in the second quarter the Nets saw a sight they were desperately hoping to avoid when Kyrie Irving landed on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot and rolled his right ankle badly, collapsing to the ground in immense pain.

With James Harden already out with a hamstring injury suffered less than a minute into Game 1, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s presence became critical for the Nets in being able to keep up their offensive attack. They’ve proven all season they’re capable of dealing with the absence of one of their stars, but missing two is a far more difficult task. Irving was helped up and eventually walked to the locker room under his own power but clearly dealing with significant pain in that ankle.

The alternate angles the broadcast had showed Irving’s ankle rolling dramatically, appearing to go almost 90 degrees and there is obvious concern about his status moving forward in this series.

LeBron James had the reaction to Kyrie’s injury that just about every other NBA fan did while watching from home.

UPDATE: The Nets have ruled Irving OUT for the rest of the game with an ankle sprain.

Polo G’s celebratory weekend came to a rather quick end as the rapper was arrested in Miami following an album release party he held for his new full-length effort, Hall Of Fame. The rapper was pulled over with his mother and manager, Stacia Mac, his younger brother, and security personnel as they were driving in a vehicle. According to Billboard and documents provided by Miami police, the rapper was stopped in order to be searched for weapons as a cop suspected they might be carrying some because they heard a passenger say the vehicle they were riding in was bulletproof.

When the officers stopped the vehicle, they asked all the occupants to step out and this is when the alleged altercation between Polo G and the cops ensued. Officers Brandon Carrero and Joseph Acuna “ended up in a struggle on the ground” with the rapper who also struck the former in the head, chin, forehead, and cheek during the incident, according to the arrest report. The rapper would be taken into custody and hit with a number of charges.

After posting a $19,500 bond, Polo G took to Twitter to speak out about the matter for the first time.

“1 of the officers told us they was on us since we got Off our Jet,” he wrote before following it up with a second tweet adding, “They playin foul in Miami & dat sh*t been like that for a minute.”

Polo G’s charges include battery against a police officer, public servant/influence performance threat, resisting an officer with violence, resisting an officer without violence, and criminal mischief.

One of the more highly-anticipated games from Square Enix has been nothing but a rumor for years until Sunday, when the company announced Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy to the world. This is not a game based on the movies that came out over the last handful of years, however, but an original story created by Square Enix meant to be for video game fans.

The trailer itself hits all the right notes. It’s funny, full of character, and features just enough action to have us excited about what it will be like to play as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They also managed to avoid a mistake they made with 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers in the character design. They’re unique to the game, yes, but they still look good. The Avengers game of course received backlash for not looking the way they did in the MCU, but the models just didn’t look right.

After the trailer, Square Enix spent time showing what the game is going to be like. While it would have been fun to play as every member of the Guardians, it would have been a mess trying to switch between characters constantly. Keeping the player as a single main character keeps it focused. It also creates a fun gameplay mechanic where the player can make decisions as Peter Quill and the rest of the guardians act more autonomously and react to those decisions.

The gameplay that was shown looked really fun. The characters talked a little too much, but that was probably for trailer purposes so we could get a look into everyone’s personality. Right now, early signs show a game where the developers really understand what a Guardians of the Galaxy game should look and sound like. They even have licensed music sequences, which fits what we’ve seen in the films as well. And with an October release date, we’ll see how it all plays a lot sooner than many thought.

There’s a long list of things that Pharrell has done for his home state of Virginia. In 2017, he pushed forward a plan to bring a new Virginia Beach Dome venue to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. He also brought the Something In The Water festival to the state in 2019 as a highlight attraction to Virginia during their College Beach Weekend. Now, the multitalented act is back with more for Virginia as he announced plans to open a private school in the state for low-income students.

The Yellowhab school will be opened in Norfolk, Virginia’s Ghent neighborhood, which is close to his Virginia Beach hometown. Children in grades 3-5 will be able to enroll at Yellowhab and tuition for at least the first year will be free with other costs to be paid for by charitable donations.

“If the system is fixed and unfair, then it needs to be broken,” Pharrell said in a press release according to The Virginian Pilot. “We don’t want lockstep learning where so many kids fall behind; we want bespoke learning designed for each child, where the things that make a child different are the same things that will make a child rise up and take flight.”

Pharrell chose Norfolk for the school because of its history of housing segregation and the city’s plans to redevelop three public housing complexes. Yellowhab is also designed to group students by skill level rather than grade with a curriculum that gives priority to STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The school will open on September 7 and families can apply for enrollment on July 1 through Yellowhab’s website.

When Halo Infinite was first shown back in 2020 it was met with a significant amount of scorn from fans of the franchise. It didn’t look good, sound right, or even feel like a Halo game. For many the best way to describe its debut is that it looked like a different kind of shooter with Halo paint on top of it. Considering Halo is still one of Xbox’s major franchises that just wasn’t acceptable and it seems to be a large part of why the game was delayed into 2021.

On Sunday, Halo Infinite had a second shot at unveiling itself to the world, and it did a far better job this time around. The multiplayer trailer alone was enough to get fans excited, but it also featured a new campaign trailer as well. This one was unfortunately cinematic, so we still haven’t seen if they’ve improved the gameplay, but the story itself at least seems interesting.

More importantly, the showcase gave us a release date: Holiday 2021. As long as there are no more delays, which can always happen with these AAA titles, we’ll be on another adventure with Master Chief by the end of the year. An adventure that at this point is six years in the making.

It’s just unfortunate that they couldn’t have shown us a little more gameplay of what the campaign is going to look like. Even a 30 second or minute-long clip would have been enough to show fans that it’s going to look and sound better than the original demo, but we’ll have to take what we’ve been given. As long as the game plays well at launch, few will really care about its much more troubled debut in 2020.