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(SPOILERS for What If…? will obviously be found below.)

Disney+’s What If…? has a grand time putting MCU characters into alternate storylines with varying results so far. Peggy Carter taking the super-soldier serum made for a righteous episode, as did T’Challa becoming Star-Lord, which allowed for the revamping of a big baddie and confirmation that Peter Quill truly is the worst hero in the MCU. This week, things get bizarre because a Marvel show gets a little bit procedural.

Someone is killing off Avengers, and Black Widow’s on the case, and several Avengers bite the dust, and narratively speaking, it’s kind-of a mess. I maybe spotted Crossbones, and thank goodness Nick Fury has the right voice coming out of his head (you know that Samuel L. Jackson couldn’t pass this up), and we see (Bad) Thor and Loki and Hawkeye and Agent Coulson with Captain Marvel ending the episode with an inquiry of who’s butt she can kick. Before that happened, Black Widow was not voiced by Scarlett Johansson, which was discombobulating, even though Lake Bell gave it her all here. Oh, and perhaps most importantly to a lot of Marvel fans, we got to see Iron Man, alive and well again, although he’s voiced not by Robert Downey Jr. but by Mick Wingert.

No matter the voice, people were very happy to see Tony Stark again, donuts and all.

And then this happened. Yes, they killed Iron Man again (those bastards). Let’s just say that the emotions continued… in the other direction. You’re breaking our hearts, Marvel!

Disney+’s ‘What If…?’ streams new episodes on Wednesdays.

Tom Cruise is to the United Kingdom as pigeons are to New York City: he’s everywhere.

The actor, who’s currently filming the seventh Mission: Impossible movie in Europe, posed for a photo with the employees of Indian restaurant Asha’s after eating not one but two dishes of chicken tikka masala. I have never related to Tom Cruise more. He also landed his helicopter in a family’s garden because the nearby airport was closed:

Tom Cruise landed by helicopter in Alison Webb’s Warwickshire garden. The family had only been told an unnamed VIP needed somewhere to land as the nearby airport was shut. Cruise posed for pictures and gave a free helicopter ride to Ms. Webb’s children and her partner’s children.

James Corden can relate. “This summer, me and Tom Cruise were texting about meeting up in London,” The Late Late Show host said during Tuesday’s episode (he prefaced the story with a self-aware warning that “there’s no way to say this without sounding like a prick”). “He sent me a text saying, ‘Whereabouts are you staying?’ And I said, ‘I’m staying in St. Johns Wood,’ which is pretty central in London… He said, ‘Cool, can I land my helicopter there?’ And I just presumed he was joking.” Tom Cruise does not joke.

Here’s the evidence of their text conversation:

I have spent the last 10 minutes wondering if the “T” in that one text means “thanks” or if it stands for “Tom,” like how Tom Hanks ends his tweets with “Hanx” (what is it with Toms?). Also, it’s almost too perfect that Cruise responds to the crying emojis with “does this mean no?” Being text friends with Tom Cruise seems like a lot of responsiblity.

You can watch The Late Late Show clip above.

All three of Nirvana’s albums — Bleach, Nevermind, and In Utero — are beloved by fans decades later, but of those, there’s one that Dave Grohl says he doesn’t like listening to nowadays: In Utero.

An updated version of Paul Brannigan’s 2011 biography This Is A Call: The Life And Times Of Dave Grohl is on the way, and in an excerpt shared by Louder (as NME notes), Grohl says that In Utero “makes [his] skin crawl.” He noted:

“That album captured a moment in time for the band, and it’s definitely an accurate representation of the time… which was dark. It’s a f*cking dark album. I don’t like listening to that record. It’s a weird one for me. I hear songs on the radio every once in a while, and I like the sonic difference of hearing ‘All Apologies’ or ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ come on in the middle of a bunch of compressed, Pro-Tooled modern rock radio music, because it stands out, but lyrically and conceptually it’s not something that I like to revisit too often. But maybe what I love the most about that album is the sound of urgency, and the sound of the three of us in a room playing.”

He went on to speak about how In Utero was a response to the hugely successful Nevermind, saying:

“Nevermind and In Utero are two totally different albums. Nevermind was intentional, as much as any revisionists might say it was a contrived version of Nirvana, it wasn’t: we went down there to make that record, we rehearsed hours and hours and hours, day after day, to get to Nevermind. But In Utero was so different. There was no labored process, it was just… bleurgh… it just came out, like a purge, and it was so pure and natural.

And both of those things I’m very proud of, the structured exercise of making an album like Nevermind versus the reckless purge of making an album like In Utero. If you can make one of those albums in your lifetime, you’re lucky: we got two in a row, and that’s awesome.

Obviously In Utero was a direct response to the success and sound of Nevermind. We just pushed ourselves in the other direction, like, ‘Oh really, that’s what you like? Well, here’s what we’re going to f*cking do now!’ But it is a hard album for me to listen to from front to back. Because it’s so real, and because it’s such an accurate representation of the band at the time, it brings back other memories, it kinda makes my skin crawl.

It’s funny: I spend a lot of my time planning things to come, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking back on things I’ve done. But In Utero, man, what a trip.”

Meanwhile, Nevermind is currently at the center of a lawsuit levied by the guy who appeared on the cover as a baby.

Call it a case of premature administration. Remember when, just a few short days, OnlyFans caved to pressure from bankers and announced that it would be banning any sexually explicit content from its site beginning in October? Yeah, well, you can forget all about that. OnlyFans porn is back (for now, anyway).

Less than a week ago, OnlyFans executives shocked lovers of adult content and the hard-working sex workers who provide it by announcing that the site — which had become somewhat of a safe haven (and savior) for sex workers to continue to earn money during the COVID pandemic — would follow the path of Tumblr a few years back and no longer allow its users to post sexually explicit content. The reason? “To comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers,” the company told Variety.

Clearly, someone must have informed those banking partners and payout providers that there would be far less money to count if the platform pivoted to PG-only content, as the reversal on this decision came pretty quickly (pun only mildly intended).

As Variety reports, the company confirmed that it had “secured [the] assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community.” In other words: Sex sells. OnlyFans executives were understandably thrilled that its lewd-lovin’ members spoke up when the threat of turning the site into something out of an old-school Disney cartoon seemed imminent. On Wednesday morning, the company tweeted:

“Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard. We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change. OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators.”

Naturally, people have thoughts, mainly marveling over the power of protest while also slamming OnlyFans as shady and untrustworthy…

(Via Variety)

Olivia Rodrigo’s album Sour has actually changed a lot since its release… in terms of its credits, anyway. Last month, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent were given songwriting credits on “Deja Vu,” as the track is strongly influenced by Swift’s “Cruel Summer.” Now, the list of credited Sour songwriters has grown even larger, as Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro are now credited as writers on “Good 4 U.”

As NME notes, the two were not originally credited on the song when its full credits were revealed in May. No official reason has been given for Williams and Farro’s new credits, but some have noted similarities between the song and Paramore’s hit “Misery Business,” so much so that a mash-up of the two tracks has gained popularity on social media.

Williams reacted to the news, taking to her Instagram Story to share a post from Warner Chappell Music that highlights her and Farro’s credit. Williams added, “our publisher is wildin rn.”

Aside from the aforementioned credits, Swift and Antonoff are also credited on “1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back,” which interpolates Swift’s “New Year’s Day.”

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

HBO is jumping off Betty. Yes, that’s a skateboarding pun—which you’d know if you’d been watching Betty. As Variety reports, HBO issued a statement on Thursday announcing that they are cancelling the Crystal Moselle-created series, which is based on her 2018 film Skate Kitchen, after just two seasons.

“We will not be moving forward with a third season of Betty,” the network wrote in a statement. “We are very grateful for the collaboration with Crystal and our incredible cast—their fearless exploration of the world of New York City’s skate culture will remain a beautiful emblem of friendship and community.”

The LGBT-themed comedy series (which our Brian Grubb once dubbed “the coolest show on television”) about a group of young women navigating the male-dominated world of New York City’s skateboarding culture, received nearly unanimous praise from critics when it first debuted in May 2020. Though at its height it was only being watched by about 200,000 people, the critical consensus was strong enough that HBO had the good sense to greenlight it for a second season, which currently holds a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes (while season 1 is holding steady at 97 percent).

While the series has been praised for its fresh approach and cinema verité-like style—especially as it entered its second season and tackled such urgent topics as the COVID pandemic and Black Lives Matter—not even near-universal praise could save the series. Meaning that its second season finale—which The Hollywood Reporter wryly notes was “unfortunately titled ‘The Let Down’”—will now serve as its series finale.

(Via Variety)

New footage from The Batman — the movie that dares to ask, what if a man… was a bat? — debuted at CinemaCon on Tuesday, but it hasn’t been released to the public yet. Instead, Entertainment Weekly has a write-up about what was screened, including Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne looking emo-broody and beating people up in the streets of Gotham. It’s your typical Dark Knight fare, but in a behind-the-scenes featurette, director Matt Reeves explained why The Batman isn’t your typical origin story.

“I felt that we’ve seen lots of origin stories. It seems things go further and further into fantasy, and I thought, well, one place we haven’t been is grounding it in the way that Year One does, to come right in to a young Batman, not being an origin tale, but referring to his origins and shaking him to his core,” he said, referring to Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s influential Batman: Year One comics. “You can have it be very practical, but I also thought it could be the most emotional Batman movie ever made.”

Pattinson added that “from the first conversation I had with Matt… I just knew that there was something radically different.” He also called Batman “one of the major characters of the 20th century, and so many people connect with it on such a deep level for so many different reasons.” I feel the same way, but about his character from The Lighthouse.

The Batman opens on March 4, 2022.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

While the world waits for Saweetie to drop Pretty B*tch Music, she seems to be happy doing anything but. As part of her ongoing promo campaign, Saweetie has been hitting all her marks, collaborating with a massive brand like McDonalds, and dropping episodes of her tongue-in-cheek Icy University on Youtube.

Her latest episode of the series is extra special though, because it features none other than breakout star Chloe Bailey of Chloe x Halle fame. After Ungodly Hour turned heads in 2020, Chloe became a breakout star in her own right via some steamy Instagram videos, and is now preparing to release her first solo single, “Have Mercy.” She even dropped some behind-the-scenes promo photos for the new single today that stoked fans excitement even higher.

But in the meantime, Chloe showed up to chat with Saweetie about everything from her new music to self-love and body positivity. Could this connection potentially lead to a collaboration between the two? Perhaps! For now, check out the first episode of Icy University‘s second season up above, and keep an ear out for more new music from both of these women. 2021 isn’t over yet, and there’s still plenty of time for both these ladies to give fans what they want to hear.

Thirty years after the album was released, Nirvana are now facing a lawsuit for their classic effort, Nevermind. The band’s surviving members and the estate of Kurt Cobain were sued by Spencer Elden, who is the baby that appears on the album’s cover. According to documents obtained by Pitchfork, Elden claims that the band broke federal child pornography laws. He also argues for child sexual exploitation claims against them. Kirk Weddle, the photographer behind the cover for Nevermind was also named in the lawsuit.

Elden says that he’s suffered “lifelong damages” as a result of the 1991 album and notes that’s his legal guardians never signed paperwork “authorizing the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him.” Additionally, he’s suing the band, Cobain’s estate, and the photography for distribution of private sexually explicit materials, negligence, and what’s listed as a “sex trafficking venture” in which Elden “was forced to engage in commercial sexual acts while under the age of 18 years old.”

The lawsuit is seeking seeking damages, attorney fees, a court order to stop all parties involved “from continuing to engage in the unlawful acts and practices described herein,” as well as a trial by jury. The court documents also add:

The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter.

It should be noted that Elden recreated the Nevermind cover several times and had the album title tattooed on his chest. Despite this, he mentioned his distaste for the artwork during a 2016 interview with GQ Australia. “It’s f*cked up,” he said. “I’m pissed off about it, to be honest.”

As part of the sisterly duo Chloe x Halle, both Chloe and Halle Bailey have become R&B superstars. And, each have been branching off on their own as well, with Halle starring in the new live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, and Chloe prepping to release her first solo single. Of course, there were the dance moves and Instagram videos from Chloe that caught quite a few people’s attention long before the new music was officially announced.

Needless to say, Chloe is coming into her own after the success of Ungodly Hour with her sister, and some behind-the-scenes photos for her upcoming single have only made fans more excited than before for the new single. Chloe has been readying her debut solo track, “Have Mercy,” for a while now, and these photos let fans know that the release will include a video with a strong visual aesthetic of its own.

The photographer and makeup artist behind these new stills, Edwig Henson, shared them on Instagram with the following heartfelt message of support for the singer. “Did makeup and took a few stills of the beautiful @chloebailey. She’s got one the most anticipated songs of the year coming soon! So make sure you support sis when it does. I hope you guys are just as excited as I am! “Have Mercy” on us Chloe.”

Well Edwig, we are. Oh, we are.