'The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special': All the Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed

James Gunn has finally revealed how he plans to bring the DCU to life and all of it hinges on the success of a shared universe and an Elseworlds strategy. Elseworlds was a DC Comics publishing imprint started in 1989 that presented stories set outside the DC Universe's main continuity. These stories typically featured alternate versions of well-known characters and explored "what if" scenarios. The Elseworlds stories offered a fresh perspective on familiar characters and allowed creators to take the characters in new and different directions.

Sad Affleck strikes again! Accompanying his wife Jennifer Lopez at the 2023 Grammys, viewers picked up on Ben Affleck looking particularly “miserable” during the ceremony, especially as he remained expressionless as J. Lo rocked out to the tribute performance to Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy by Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Chris Stapleton.

There wasn't much to appreciate about 2011’s Green Lantern despite it starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. The movie pulled in less than $220 million at the box office and is widely considered a flop in the genre. Under the shadow at the time, though, was Angela Bassett, who made her debut into the world of superheroes as Amanda Waller. What Bassett accomplished in a few scenes helped to establish a character for the first time on the big screen - one that will now have her own series, Waller, with Viola Davis as the titular character - and it got Bassett’s name on the radar for future superhero projects. Years after playing Waller, Bassett would join the MCU as Ramonda, the mother to T’Challa and Shuri, in the Black Panther franchise, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the second film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In a movie that didn't offer much, it's pretty easy to say that the small performance of Bassett had some major payoffs.

There have been few superhero films over the years that have been as influential as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy. The Christian Bale-led comic book epics feature some of the best genre storytelling of the last 30 years and, when most people talk about the best superhero films, The Dark Knight is usually on the top of that list. Now a decade after the trilogy concluded, McFarlane Toys is giving Nolan’s Gotham the action figure line it deserve.

Rian Johnson is currently in the process of adding his name to the pantheon of mystery legends. After charming audiences with his Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) movies, Knives Out and Glass Onion, the director is taking his chances on TV mysteries-of-the-week. And, boy, wasn’t that a smart choice! Currently streaming on Peacock, Johnson’s new show, Poker Face, is quickly proving itself to be worthy of the title of successor to the one and only Columbo.

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) bursts onto the scene as a teenange genius and a true force to be reckoned with, and it won't be long until fans get to meet her once again, this time in her own Disney+ series, Ironheart. Proving she is a superhero both onscreen and off, Thorne recently partnered with Puffs Power Pals, which provides a soft touch to the world's fiercest superheroes at Children's Healthcare Atlanta.

One of the greatest superheroes of all time, DC Comics' very own Green Lantern is a hero who has been around since the Golden Age. Though the Emerald Knight has gone through plenty of different incarnations in the past 80-something years, with countless costumes and characters to choose from, one thing has always been clear: no evil will escape his sight. James Gunn and Peter Safran's just announced the upcoming HBO Max series Lanterns, a True Detective-inspired series that will be the first attempt at a live-action series surrounding the character, and we couldn't be more excited.

It's something of a misconception that animated movies are only for kids. It's become less pronounced in recent decades, but there is still a certain stigma surrounding adults watching animated movies in certain parts of the world. It can be fairly confusing to see, because many animated movies out there are more than capable of impacting adults emotionally, as the following examples demonstrate.

Saturday Night Live brought out the big guns for host Pedro Pascal and he knocked every sketch out of the park! One of the first moments we got to really see him shine was in a sketch called "The Big Hollywood Quiz" and boy was it surprisingly funny. Overall, the night had some incredible sketches and characters for Pascal to play but Robert, a man who doesn't know anything about movies made in the last five years, may be one of my favorites.

Sony Pictures has just announced that the buddy cop duo of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence will be hitting the streets of South Beach for a fourth installment of the enormously popular franchise, Bad Boys. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will team up to direct the pair again after collaborating with the tandem on Bad Boys For Life in 2020 that more than maintained the momentum for the series raking in a cool $426 million at the box office. The announcement comes a full 28 years after the making of the original, and though the new film does not yet have a title, the news could not have come at a better time for Smith, who will no doubt be looking for anything and everything to talk about other than what transpired at the now infamous 94th Academy Awards ceremony.

The Last Of Us delivered another brilliant episode of television earlier this week covering the beautiful love story between Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It was a romance that was only alluded to in the game and putting the pair of survivors front in center in Episode 3 was the biggest/most emotional change from game to screen so far. With Episode 4 premiering on Sunday, changes and new additions to the story will continue with the introduction of original characters Perry and Kathleen, played by Jeffery Pierce and Melanie Lynskey respectively. Now, new images for Episode 4 tease that the pair may not be Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) friends.

Being a young actor can be incredibly difficult. What you do as soon as you break onto the scene can define you for the rest of your life. Elijah Wood, for better or worse, will always be known as Frodo, rather than for his excellent work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or Sin City. Paul Mescal was at this defining moment of his career after the smash hit Normal People, where he portrayed a young Irish man working his way through the ups and downs of a tumultuous romance. Sure, there was a lot of depth and vulnerability to his performance, but it seemed that he would end up as another young actor staying in a lane, instead of taking challenging, daring roles.

The momentum for Avatar: The Way of Water continues as the epic science fiction film dominates IMAX screens with an additional $5.3 million at the global box office. With the film currently in its eighth week of release, it has earned a total of $247 million worldwide from IMAX screens, signifying an audience preference to see the film on premium formats.

From creator Jeff Davis (Teen Wolf) and based on the book series by Edo Van Belkom, the Paramount+ original series Wolf Pack follows Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard), as they learn just how much getting bitten by a supernatural creature will change their lives. Drawn to each other, they meet two other teens, Luna (Chloe Rose Robertson) and Harlan (Tyler Lawrence Gray), who share their secret and a mysterious connection to the terrifying California wildfires and the full moon that is calling to them.

After three seasons of watching anyone who has the misfortune of obtaining the attention and affection of Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) in You, it's hardly surprising everywhere he walks looks suspiciously like a murder scene. As is known to committed fans of the Netflix thriller, Joe's now somewhat predictable behaviors follow a pattern of stalking, obsessing and killing all romantic former romantic flames. His latest self-indulgent serial killer antics forced him to flee suburban America for England after his latest fixation Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) evaded his bloody charms. With a new identity as university lecturer Professor Jonathan Moore, Season 4 is shaping up to put Joe's lust for love and life (taking) to the test. Just days ahead of the release, new images have been unveiled spotlighting Joe on a new hunt.

Remember 2020? The world ended, hand sanitizer became the hot new item, and not wearing a face mask felt like you were streaking in the middle of the mall. It’s not necessarily a time anyone wants to return to, and frankly, the fear and ramifications of the pandemic never fully went away. Is there an appetite for content set during such a bizarre and scary time? Even though it’s been roughly three years since the initial shock and paranoia of it all, it seems like just yesterday that we were spraying cleaning products on our produce and having panic attacks when we needed to touch a doorknob. The indie dramedy Who Invited Charlie? washes away any reservations you might have about a movie set in the COVID times and, more importantly, lets Adam Pally show us what he is capable of.

Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 5 of Poker Face. The previous episode of Poker Face quite literally rocked. We got to jam out with the metal band Doxxxology led by Chloë Sevigny’s Ruby Ruin, a has-been rock star desperate to get another hit song on her hands. So desperate, in fact, that she and her bandmates end up killing their new drummer in an attempt to take credit for his lyrics and music to a new song. But never fear! Our favorite bluff-caller Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) was on it. Charlie also had a close call with Cliff (Benjamin Bratt), the casino security guard who’s been on her tail since Episode 1. Let’s drive and see where Episode 5 takes us.

Dearest gentle reader, we are now only a few months away from boarding the time-travelling carriage prepared by Shonda Rhimes to take us back to the origins of our favorite TV monarch, Queen Charlotte. Netflix announced a few days ago that the Bridgerton prequel is on its way to us and will be arriving this Spring. As buzz continues to grow around the prequel, creator, Rhimes is continuing to tease fans on what to expect from our titular queen's love story with King George and all the complexities that saw it herald a new societal change in the ton.

Ever since his outstanding directorial debut Get Out, Jordan Peele has been sweeping horror fans off their feet with his incredible innovative works that even got him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. The filmmaker's love for horror is evident through his work, a fact that reflects in the quality of his projects.

Meeting anyone's mother is hard but when she's Pedro Pascal? Watch out! Pascal took to Saturday Night Live to host with musical guest Coldplay and the entire night was filled with hilarious characters for Pascal to play. One sketch that stood out features him playing Marcello Hernández's mother meeting his white girlfriend Brittany (Chloe Fineman) for the first time. The sketch is great because it brings in Pascal's incredible comedic timing and uses both Pascal's and Hernández's fluency in Spanish to Fineman's disadvantage.