Category: Pop Culture

Everything you need to know before going to see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

If you haven’t seen Ant-Man or just need a refresher, we have you covered.

The first film of Phase 5 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) launches on February 17 as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters nationwide. It is the third installment in the Paul Rudd-led Ant-Man series, and comes with high expectations as Jonathan Majors reprises his role as “He Who Remains” from Loki as new big baddie Kang the Conquerer.

We haven’t seen our pal Scott Lang since the adventures of Avengers: Endgame when Lang returned from the quantum realm and helped organize the time heist that un-did Thanos’s half-the-world-erasing snap.

Whether you’re a Marvel fan that hasn’t had a chance to re-watch everything in anticipation of the new release, a movie-goer that wants to jump in blind or a casual observer of MCU that can’t quite remember all the details of the story, we’re here to help.

In Ant-Man, we meet Scott Lang. He’s getting out of prison after a stint behind bars for essentially running the Office Space scheme and skimming pennies off the top from a company called Vista Corp. Lang is determined to stay clean and above board for his daughter, Cassie.

When he can’t find a job — Baskin Robbins always finds out — Lang’s friend Luis (Michael Peña) ropes him in for a heist that leads to him finding and wearing an elaborate suit created by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). The suit allows Lang to shrink (or later get much, much larger) and uses the power of his ant-friends to fight the diabolical Darren Cross (Corey Stoll).

We see Ant-Man in Captain America: Civil War when Falcon enlists Scott’s help to assist Cap’s team in the battle against Iron Man and the other half of the Avengers. Lang ends up under house arrest as a result of breaking the Sokovia Accords, leading us to Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), the daughter of Pym, teams up with her dad and Lang to attempt to retrieve her mother, Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), from the quantum realm. Janet has been lost in space and time since a mission to save the world decades earlier. The mission was successful, and the ensuing experiments with the quantum realm gave Scott Lang the background to come up with the beginnings of a plan to go back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones and foil Thanos’s plans.

As Scott spent time in the quantum realm during the five year span following the blip, his daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton) continued to grow, meaning he returned to essentially (and actor-wise) a whole new person.

That’s the quick and dirty recap getting us to now, but let’s dig into a few of the characters a little more.

Marvel Studios pushes The Marvels release date to November

We could see a few more titles pushed back as Marvel Studios and Disney spread out content.

You’re going to have to wait a little bit longer for the return of Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan as Marvel Studios announced they’ll be pushing The Marvels back to a November 10 release date. The Marvels was originally scheduled for a July 8 release.

This aligns with the new strategy announced from both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel head Kevin Feige in recent comments to the media about slowing down the release of content. Some of this is as a result of cost-cutting, but it also will cut down on Marvel fatigue and allow projects to have a moment to shine.

In 2020 and 2021, Marvel released seven movies and eight Disney+ shows. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is still slated to hit theaters May 5, but it’s unclear what will happen with the Secret Invasion and Echo series that were supposed to release mid-2023. The second season of Loki does not yet have a release date, but with its tie-ins to Kang — the big baddie of both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the next two phases — it likely won’t delay much.

Quantumania is in theaters now.

Jonathan Majors keeps breaking the internet with photo shoots

Most Americans have two questions on their mind: who is Jonathan Majors and how can I look at him more? We got you.

With both Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III hitting theaters over the next couple of weeks, many Americans have two questions on their minds: Who is Jonathan Majors and how can I look at him more?

You’re in luck, because in addition to being one of the most photogenic men in America, Majors is also one of the most photographed men in America as of late, posing for basically every major publication that still does photoshoots, including EBONY, Men’s Health and The Cut.

So whenever you see Majors trending on Twitter, don’t worry — he’s probably fine! All it means is there are new photos of him, a gift to the internet at large, and we have the privilege of seeing him again! But with different clothes and props and backdrops!

Anyway, enough talking. Here is Jonathan Majors.

17 words to mute to avoid spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Don’t want Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania spoiled? We’re here to help!

The new Marvel Cinematic Universe entry has arrived as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has hit theaters nationwide. The first in Phase Five and the third Paul Rudd-led Ant-Man movie sets the tone for the next Thanos-level threat by introducing Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conquerer.

As is always the case with popular releases — particularly MCU content — the spoiler risk is real, especially on Twitter. Because we love you and are here to help, we’ve compiled a list of potential things that could be spoilers for Quantumania.

Please note the inclusion of any topics does not mean that they’re in the movie, we’re just trying to help you go in with a blank slate.

  • Paul Rudd
  • Jonathan Majors
  • Ant-Man
  • Kang
  • Kang the Conquerer
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp
  • Quantumania
  • Michelle Pfeiffer
  • MODOK
  • Loki
  • Bill Murray
  • Fantastic Four
  • Fantastic 4
  • Darren Cross
  • Hank Pym
  • Council of Kangs
  • Multiverse

The Microsoft Bing AI chatbot having disturbing conversations with users, explained

Bing’s AI chatbot has been saying some disturbing stuff lately. Yikes.

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Have you seen headlines, tweets and stories about a Bing chatbot that’s having some very weird conversations with users? And wondering what’s up with that? We’re here to help.

As you may have seen, ChatGPT is very much a thing these days that people are having fun with — that uses artificial intelligence to craft answers to questions or requests.

But now, Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, is using an AI chatbot that users have been trying out. And that results have been, uh, pretty disturbing.

Let’s dive in:

6 actors (Jesse Plemons!) who should play John Madden in Tom Brady’s limited series

A limited series about legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden is in the works.

The life and times of late NFL legend John Madden are heading to a television near you in the future.

A limited series about the accomplished coach and broadcaster is on the way from filmmaker Gavin O’Connor and executive producer/newly retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady.

While you can guess what Brady brings to the table, O’Connor has plenty of experience telling sports-based stories, having directed the Disney hockey drama Miracle, the MMA drama Warrior and the Ben Affleck-led basketball drama The Way Back.

While a broadcasting home and casting have yet to be finalized, Brady spoke to why he’s so engaged with working on the project (via Deadline).

“I grew up admiring John Madden, first as a coach, then as a commentator. I loved John’s passion for the game, especially his insatiable appetite for educating audiences about football. He welcomed fans with that warm smile, infectious laugh, and exceptional knowledge of the game, making everyone feel as if John were watching the broadcast right next to them on their living room sofa.”

The major question now is who will play Madden in the project?

Whether it’s Oakland Raiders-era Madden or Monday Night Football-era Madden, we’ve got some ideas for who might lead the project.

Steven Spielberg gives Tom Cruise and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ the highest compliment ahead of the Oscars

A reminder that we need to see Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise work together again.

You can count one of the greatest directors of all time as a fan of Top Gun: Maverick, the high-flying action drama starring Tom Cruise that dominated theaters last summer.

Steven Spielberg caught up with Cruise at this year’s Oscar nominees luncheon earlier this week. In an exchange between the former collaborators caught on camera — see below — Spielberg tells Cruise that he “saved Hollywood’s [butt]” with Maverick.

“And you might have saved theatrical distribution,” Spielberg tells Cruise. “Seriously, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”

Maverick was just the second film released amid the pandemic to gross more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, joining the exclusive company of Spider-Man: No Way Home. And in the domestic box office, Maverick is the fifth-highest grossing film of all-time, topping $718 million. It’s the only non-Marvel and non-Avatar film in the top five.

Unlike the third installment of the third Spider-Man series, Maverick has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, hence Cruise’s presence at the awards luncheon. In addition to starring in the film, Cruise is also credited as a producer.

Cruise and Spielberg’s films are both competing at this year’s Oscars. Both Maverick and Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans are nominated for Best Picture. The Fabelmans is up for six other awards – including Judd Hirsch for Best Supporting Actor – while Maverick is nominated for five others, including sound, editing, original song, visual effects, and adapted screenplay.

Despite great performances by Cruise, and co-stars Glen Powell and Miles Teller, Maverick didn’t land any nominations for acting. Cruise has never won an acting Oscar, but would be credited with a win as a producer should Maverick win Best Picture. Cruise was last nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2000’s Magnolia. Though, we all think he should’ve at least been nominated for pulling off this insane stunt in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation.

Spielberg and Cruise haven’t worked together on a film since 2005’s War of the Worlds. Before that, they also teamed up for 2002’s Minority Report. Perhaps we’ll see them work on another film together if Cruise can take a break from death-defying stunts in Mission Impossible sequels.

The Challenge: World Championship: Meet the cast of legends and champions who will compete on Paramount+

A look at the big names competing The Challenge: World Championship this season.

With series name like The Challenge: World Championship, you’d better have a cast worthy of that title.

And that’s the truth: The global version of the MTV reality competition series that will premiere on March 8 on Paramount+ (and a sneak preview will be on MTV at 8 PM ET that night) has so many former champions to work with some huge names from other versions of the series (USA and Australia).

Per a release: “In the franchise’s first-ever world tournament, each global MVP will be paired with a “Challenge” Legend, a notable veteran from previous seasons of the MTV series, who will serve as their partner to form the most epic teams in the history of the franchise. Together they will work towards the most difficult challenge of them all: the brutal finale worth $500,000.”

Check out the cast and a first look at it below:

The Bachelor 2023 recap: Contenders, pretenders and power rankings after ep. 4

The crew went to the Bahamas and the drama followed.

Week four of Zach Shallcross’s journey to find Forever Love hit the road, taking the ladies to the Bahamas for some fun in the sun. By fun, we of course mean ridiculous drama and a lot of pastel-toned clothes.

Cat got the one-on-one, and Zach took her on a pretty sweet boat date. There was swimming, kissing and SO MUCH sunscreen application.

The group date saw Zach and the ladies go to a beach-side party with conch fritters, lobsters, limbo and — you guessed it — drama. Kylee and Anastasia had some disagreements bubble over into the evening portion of the date, leading to

Brooklyn, our voice of reason from last week’s drama with Christina Mandrell, was rewarded with the second one-on-one date of the episode. After some ATV riding, Brooklyn shared her devastating history of escaping a domestic violence situation.

The cocktail party hadn’t even begun before Zach decided it was time to send Anastasia packing, and two more women — Genevie and Davia — went home.

Let’s get into the contenders, pretenders, those that have work to do and our Top Five.

The Ted Lasso Season 3 release date (!) and teaser (!!) are finally here

SEASON 3 OF TED LASSO IS COMING IN A MONTH!

It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for the third season of Ted Lasso. And, in fact, it’s been a while since 2021 when a certain assistant coach of AFC Richmond went rogue.

But fear not. THE SEASON 3 RELEASE DATE AND TEASER ARE FINALLY HERE!

You won’t seen anything too spoiler-y in it, and that’s fine. It’ll warm your heart though as a bunch of the cast members make their own custom BELIEVE signs. And then? The release date!

Ted Lasso Season 3 will begin streaming March 15 on Apple TV+.

For more Ted Lasso coverage, check out our friends at Pro Soccer Wire.

Check out the teaser below and start counting the days until the series begins again:

[afflinkbutton text=”Sign up for Apple TV+” link=”https://tv.apple.com/channel/tvs.sbd.4000?itsct=tv_box_link&itscg=30200&at=1010l39Wj&ct=Ted+Lasso+S3″]

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. FTW operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.