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SPOILERS for Fear the Walking Dead will be found below.

Two episodes into the back half of Season Six of Fear the Walking Dead, and there have already been two major deaths. John Dorie was the first victim, shot and killed by Dakota, while in last week’s episode, June got her revenge by killing Dakota’s mother, Ginny.

Those two deaths, interestingly, may pave the way for the next Big Bad in the series. Ginny’s absence, of course, leaves an opening for another major villain, since she had been the primary antagonist for the past season. Meanwhile, the forthcoming villain will be someone from John Dorie’s past, hinted co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: “I think people should go back and look at what John Dorie has said in the first half of the season, because it will offer a clue as to one of the big threats in the back half of the season.”

As Comicbook.com suggests, Chambliss is likely referring to a serial killer that Dorie’s father put in prison, though he had to do so by framing him, which cost Dorie’s father his job. Here’s how Dorie described him in Episode Four of this season:

“Women were going missing in the Houston area. Bodies showing up miles away. The term didn’t exist then, but I suppose the fella doin’ it is what we’d call a serial killer. Detectives found him living on this compound out in the desert with a bunch of people he brainwashed into thinking he was the second coming or somethin’. Really, he was just some two-bit mortician spouting on about death and new beginnings … just a bunch of nonsense dressed up to sound profound.”

“Nonsense dressed up as profound” certainly sounds like the person behind all that spray-painted tags reading, “The end is the beginning.” The group responsible for those tags is already being set up as the back-half villains, and it would only make sense that they’d be led by someone Alicia described in the season six trailer as, “The King of the Crazies.” In fact, the KIng of the Crazies narrates that trailer: “Everything is winding down,” he says. “Death is inevitable, but from this death comes new life.”

That definitely sounds like “nonsense dressed up as profound.” That character’s name is Teddy, he’s played by John Glover (Smallville), and he looks exactly like a two-bit mortician.

It would seem that after the zombie apocalypse, Teddy managed to escape prison, and now on top of everything else, Morgan and the Gang now have to deal with a serial killer with an apparently large following and a ready supply of spray paint. We can’t wait to meet him.

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC.

Source: EW, Comicbook.com

Fans of family and holding Corona bottles by the neck had a big weekend as a new look at the latest Fast and Furious movie hit social media. The long-delayed movie got an emotional new trailer on Sunday afternoon, with Vin Diesel narrating a loving triubute to nights at the movies and reflecting on what’s been a tough pandemic-filled year for everyone.

Originally slated to hit theaters in 2020, Fast 9 was one of many films to see delays after theaters closed amid the age of coronavirus. And the latest trailer reflects on that tough time and a offers a warm welcome back for fans who are hopefully helping bring the pandemic to an end in America.

“It’s been a while,” Diesel said as the camera focused on a black car driving alone. “The roads were a little empty. The places that we used to gather went quiet. We’ve gone through a year that tested us. But we’re starting to see the promise of a new day.”

With emotional music playing, and maybe a nod to the late Paul Walker, Diesel parked the car and stepped out front to speak directly to the camera.

“For more than 100 years there’s one place where we’d all come together to be entertained. To escape, to go someplace new. The movies,” he said. “There’s nothing like that moment when the lights go down. The projector ignites, and we believe.”

Cue the car chases, with Diesel quite literally throwing a car off a mountain and flying to another mountain. The trailer starts to show some actual scenes from the upcoming film, but the emotional pull is still there.

“After staying apart for so long, it’s time to come back together. To laugh, to cheer, we’re ready to make you believe again,” he said between some dialogue from the film. “Because nobody does a comeback like the movies.”

It’s a surprisingly gripping trailer for what’s become an absurd big-budget action franchise. But it also will resonate with the millions of fans the franchise has had, especially those who have missed the theater experience over the last year. If Fast 9 wants to frame itself as a return to the movies, there are plenty of people who will oblige them and see it on the big screen. As Han said to close out the trailer, “it’s good to be back.”

We’ll have to see just how it all plays out on June 25 when Fast 9 finally hits theaters.

What is this? A competition for the top spot at the box office? Between two movies that wildly exceeded expectations? During a pandemic?!

There are still plenty of concerns about the future of theaters, especially with places like the Arclight shutting down and chains shedding theaters around the country, but the box office is clearly beginning to thaw. Three weeks ago, Godzilla vs. Kong proved that moviegoers would come back to theaters with a $48.5 million five-day opening, becoming the biggest domestic hit of the pandemic by the next week. Godzilla has now earned $84 million in three weeks now and is poised to become the first film in over a year to cross the $100 million mark in America.

This week, however, moviegoers illustrated that they were not only ready to come back for big, expensive blockbusters with solid reviews but for a bad sequel to a bad video-game adaptation, too, largely out of a sense of nostalgia and to have a good time in theaters. Warner Brothers’ Mortal Kombat earned a robust $22.5 million this weekend, wildly exceeding expectations the studio had for the film of around $12 million. It becomes the biggest debut for an R-rate film during the pandemic, and actually came very close to the $23.5 million the original Mortal Kombat, which often feed off the crowded movie theater experience, are basically critic-proof. Audiences liked it, anyway, giving it a solid B+ Cinemascore and an audience score of 88 percent on RT.

We should note, again, that WB earned $22.5 million on Mortal Kombat despite the fact that it was also available for free to HBO Max subscribers. Undoubtedly, a lot of subscribers watched Mortal Kombat at home, and yet the film also looks like it can turn a profit in theaters, as well. Warner’s strategy to release movies at home and in theaters at the same time seems to be working, not only netting positive box office results but adding 2.7 million subscribers to HBO Max during the first quarter, the most new subscribers among new streaming services for the second quarter in a row.

Mortal Kombat, meanwhile, is running neck and neck with Funimation/Aniplex’s Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train. The anime film opened in far fewer theaters, but it clearly has a passionate fan base, who turned up this weekend in big numbers. Demon Slayer even outmatched Mortal Kombat on Friday ($9.5 million to $9 million), but the movie was a bit frontloaded. Expectations for Demon Slayer were around $10 million, but it ended up earning a surprising $19 million this weekend. The movie sits at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (with a 99 percent audience score), although there have only been 15 reviews for this film, compared to the 177 reviews for Mortal Kombat.

It’s a weekend where the overall box office is poised to approach $50 million for the weekend, and while that is a far cry from the $400 million the box office earned during the same weekend two years ago when Avengers: Endgame opened, it’s nevertheless clear that the box office is slowly coming back.

Beyond the top two and Godzilla vs. Kong in third place, Bob Odenkirk’s Nobody, which is already available digitally, was in fourth place this weekend with $1.6 million and $21 million overall (besting with $15 million budget, even before PVOD receipts). Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, meanwhile, held on to fifth place with $1.55 million and $39 million overall. It’s also earned a ton of money on Disney+.

Demon Slayer and Mortal Kombat will probably duke it out for the top spot next weekend, as well, with only one new wide release on the calendar at the moment, the horror film Separation with Rupert Friend, Brian Cox, Madeline Brewer, Mamie Gummer. The following weekend, however, will see two wide releases (with limited potential): Wrath of Man with Jason Statham and Here Today, a comedy starring Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.

Source: Deadline, Box Office Mojo

Saweetie is set to have a big summer this year, but it’s nothing she’s not used to. Her prior records like “Tap In,” “My Type,” and “Icy Grl” could be found on the summer soundtracks for years and with official debut album, Pretty B*tch Music, on the way, her fans can expect some more great music from the Bay Area act. Before that arrives, however, Saweetie revealed that she brought her talents to an artist development boot camp with the goal of working on the areas she struggles in as a musician.

She shared the news during a recent interview with Apple Music. “For me, I’m gonna focus on what I struggle with — I struggle with breathing control, I’m gonna work on my dance moves, my details, all that good stuff, my body, my stamina, everything,” she said. The hosts on the Apple Music show were surprised by her involvement in the camp and commended her for joining it and putting an effort to improve her skills.

The interview came just a couple weeks after she released her Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1. The seven-track effort saw appearances from Drakeo The Ruler, Bbyafricka, Kednra Jae, Lourdiz, and Loui.

You can watch Saweetie’s full Apple Music interview above. Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1 is out now via Warner. Get it here.

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

The 2021 Oscars are upon us, two months later than usual, and better late than never? Steven Soderbergh has promised that this awards ceremony will feel like watching a movie (whatever that means!), and although David Fincher’s Mank leads with the most nominations, it sure seems likely that Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland could sweep the biggest categories. With that said, you might be wondering how you can watch the Oscars if you’re not one of those folks with a conventional TV set up. We’re ready to help.

Times are changing, years after cord cutting became popular. Sure, you can watch the ceremony on your local ABC affiliate, who will be hosting the April 25 event at 8:00 p.m. E.S.T. There shall be some limited red-carpet warmup moments beginning at 6:30 EST. And you can stream this thing live on ABC’s website if you’ve got a cable or satellite account. Yet let’s get real, if you already prefer streaming these events, you’re probably already thinking about cord cutting or actually doing so already.

With that said, cord cutters have options: (1) Nabbing a free trial on one of the services that I’m about to mention next; (2) or going ahead and plunging for a streaming service like Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, or FuboTV, so that you can check out your local ABC affiliate. If you wanna do so, be advised that Hulu Live is currently going for $64.99 per month; YouTube TV is down for a $65.00 per month charge, and FUBO TV is also weighing in at $65 per month.

Hey, though. There’s actually one way to watch the Oscars for free, guaranteed: via the Roku Channel, and all you have to do is subscribe for free and then make sure you have a compatible device (such as a Chromecast) for streaming the ceremony to your TV.

We’ll be doing live coverage of the bigger moments from this evening’s ceremony, so please join us tonight.

Jorge Masvidal suffered his first knockout loss in more than a decade on Saturday night when Kamaru Usman put him to sleep in the main event of UFC 261 with one of the most violent single punches you’ll ever see in any ring or Octagon.

Usman retained his welterweight crown with the second round knockout, making sure there was no doubt he was the most dominant fighter in the division and, arguably, in all of men’s mixed martial arts. Masvidal wasn’t just knocked out but he was out cold, as ref Herb Dean grabbed his hand and called over the medical personnel after Usman’s vicious right and a few hammerfists had the Miami fighter done. As many noted as video of the knockout went viral, mere seconds before getting knocked out, Masvidal was laughing after a haymaker of his own just missed Usman. That, and his unconscious body, quickly became a meme on Twitter.

There were also plenty of the classic knockout memes that quickly made the rounds.

From a betting angle, no one had a worse night than Chad Ochocinco who saw his $50,000 Masvidal bet go up in flames as Gamebred plummeted to the canvas unconscious.

There were also plenty who couldn’t help but note that Usman is on quite the run of knocking out UFC’s biggest Trump supporters.

The reaction of the announcing crew Octagon-side also became memeworthy as Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier flipped out after seeing Usman’s vicious right hand in action.

https://twitter.com/mintchoco65/status/1386178568229638145

Riding three-consecutive welterweight title defenses, Kamaru Usman’s mission toward the division’s best ever required a second showdown with Masvidal after the latter took a short notice fight the distance in July last year. Saturday night, Usman (19-1) put those questions to rest with a massive second-round knockout, putting Jorge Masvidal (35-15) to sleep to retain the welterweight crown at UFC 261 from Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Masvidal opened the first with snapping leg kicks to Usman’s lead leg. Usman exchanged a few big right hands, switching levels and jabbing the body while feigning the takedown. Masvidal went for a flying knee and Usman body wrapped the challenger and put him on his back. Masvidal went to work from his back, slicing elbows to Usman’s head, but Usman maintained control, pushing Masvidal against the cage and controlling the challenger. Masvidal made his way back to his feet with a minute left in the round, but it was Usman again tossing some big shots to close the action-packed first.

A minute into the second round, though, Usman landed a massive right hand the spun Masvidal around and knocked him out cold, adding some hammer fists for good measure before Herb Dean jumped in to call it. The reaction Octagon-side from Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan on commentary is legendary.

Usman came into the UFC 261 main event riding a 17-fight win streak, with a rematch against Colby Covington likely coming up next.

Saturday night was Masvidal’s first return to the Octagon since dropping his chance at UFC gold last July. Before that, Gamebred had rattled off three-consecutive wins, including his stunning knockout of Ben Askren and a win over Nate Diaz for the Baddest Motherf*cker Belt.

Two years after becoming the UFC’s first Chinese champion, Zhang Weili (21-2) has carved out a path of superstardom, earning gold one year after entering the UFC and taking fight of the year honors against Joanna Jedrzejczyk last year.

In the co-main event Saturday night at UFC 261 from Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, Rose Namajunas (11-4) changed everything with a stunning left head kick to knockout Weili and claim the strawweight title.

After the head kick, Weili argued the stoppage. She maintained that stance with Joe Rogan after the fight, adding that she was “still conscious,” so she felt the fight should have continued.

Namajunas and Weili quickly opened the first, sticking and moving with huge heavy shots before the massive head kick for the win. For Namajunas, the knockout follows a path of redemption for the former champ, who was dropped on her head by Jessica Andrade in May 2019, suffering a knockout loss in just her second title defense. Namajunas won a split decision against Andrade in a return match in July 2020 before earning just her second title shot against Weili Saturday night.

For Weili, this was just the second loss of her career after she dropped her debut back in 2013.

The most dominant flyweight in UFC history, Valentina Shevchenko (21-3) entered Saturday night on a seven-fight win streak, with five title defenses in the division. Saturday night at UFC 261, Shevchenko was on a mission to show off that dominance in a TKO victory over Jéssica Andrade (21-9) to retain her flyweight belt from Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

The champ opened the first round in dominant fashion, walking down the challenger and peppering her with combinations. While Andrade tried to find her range, Shevchenko shot in for a whopping five takedowns, utterly dominating Andrade while patiently transitioning on the ground.

In the second, Shevchenko did much of the same, taking Andrade down twice before transitioning into the crucifix position and elbowing her opponent into the finish.

For Shevchenko, while she wouldn’t pick who’s next in the flyweight division after the fight, it’s hard to imagine anyone who matches up with her well-rounded abilities.

With no clear opponents left in the division, maybe it’s time for a trilogy bought with Amanda Nunes, who has handed Shevchenko her last two losses, both by decision. Four years since her last bout with Nunes, both fighters are at the top of their games and could make for quite the showdown. With Nunes holding both the bantamweight and featherweight belts, it would almost certainly require Shevchenko to move back up the bantamweight division for such a fight to take place.

Seven years after Anderson Silva snapped his leg against Chris Weidman, the latter was the victim of the same gruesome, unfortunate injury just seconds into his UFC 261 fight against Uriah Hall.

More than a decade after their first fight, Weidman and Hall’s showdown was one of the most compelling bouts in the middleweight division. After snapping a two-fight losing streak with a win over Omari Akhedov in August, Weidman was on a journey back into title contention with his eyes on Israel Adesanya’s crown. Instead, he’ll look to make a recovery similar to Silva, with what he hopes are different results. Silva, who fractured both his fibula and tibia at UFC 168 in December 2013, spent more than two years away recovering and rehabilitating following the injury. He returned to the UFC and fought for another four years, winning just once before retiring following a knockout loss to Hall in October 2020.

Weidman’s leg looked eerily similar as everyone in the arena and at home immediately knew how awful the injury was as it happened live.

(WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO BELOW)

After the fight, Weidman was stretchered to the back with in tears with his leg stabilized and a towel covering the injury, and acknowledged the crowd from the stretcher.

Hall was understandably shaken up as they tended to Weidman, kneeling in front of his corner. Hall was then interviewed in the Octagon by Joe Rogan, saying he has nothing but respect for Weidman, adding that he introduced him to fear as the first fighter to defeat him.

Hopefully Weidman will be able to make a full recovery, but fight fans are unfortunately aware of just how long and difficult the road to recovery from such an injury can be.