CULTURE

Was That Really the Taskmaster in "Black Widow?"

Comic fans were largely disappointed with the screen adaptation of Taskmaster, but chances are we haven't seen the real character yet.

Photo/Marvel Studios

After years of waiting, Black Widow has finally debuted. And although reviews of the film are mixed, there seems to be one common belief amongst MCU fans: Taskmaster was a huge letdown.

But what if the character we believe to be Taskmaster in Black Widow is actually just another intentional misdirection by Marvel, and the fan-favorite on-again-off-again villain Taskmaster has yet to be revealed?

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TV Features

"Cruella" and "Black Widow" Will No Longer Play In Theaters

The move comes as part of a massive announcement from Disney.

Black Widow

As part of a massive announcement from Disney, Black Widow and Cruella will no longer premiere strictly in theaters.

The highly anticipated films will now also premiere on Disney Plus. Cruella will hit the site on May 28, while Black Widow has been pushed back two months, debuting now on July 9 rather than May 7. The "Premier Access" titles will of course cost a $30 renter fee. Kareem Daniel, who is the chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment distribution, reiterated that the announcement "reflects our focus on providing consumer choice and serving the evolving preferences of audiences."

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Film Lists

10 Best Female Characters in the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not always done justice to women, but recent years have given us some iconic female characters

Marvel Cinematic Universe

via Marvel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not always been kind to women.

The franchise initially focused pretty exclusively on white men and garnered so much success doing so that their argument for not featuring marginalized groups in more prominent ways was their fear of compromising their fanbase.

However, over the past few years, fans and actors have successfully advocated for films that focus on heroes from marginalized communities and feature them in more prominent, complex roles.

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Film Features

Superhero Movies Are Dying in the Age of Coronavirus

We don't need a lone hero to rise up and fight the enemies. We need everyone to collectively stay the f*ck home.

Superhero

Photo by Marcin Lukasik on Unsplash

Historically, superhero franchises have always thrived in times of great social turmoil.

Captain America burst onto the comic book scene in the midst of World War II as a metaphorical embodiment of American ideals punching Hitler in the mouth. It's no coincidence that Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man—featuring the young, web-slinging savior of New York City—set the stage for the blockbuster superhero boom so shortly after 9/11. In times of trouble, people love to escape reality though fiction, and superheroes are, at their core, the ultimate power fantasy.

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MUSIC

Unconfirmed Albums We're Hoping for in 2020

Kendrick Lamar, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, and more.

Kendrick LamarMTV Video Music Awards, Press Room, Los Angeles, USA - 27 Aug 2017

Photo by: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

We've already been over a handful of the new albums 2020 will definitely have in store for us, but there's surely plenty more where those came from.

In addition to the plethora of albums we know for sure are coming out in the new year, many artists have given subtle hints that they plan to release new records. None of these have been confirmed, but we've compiled clues to round-out our list of probable records we're dying to hear.

Justin Bieber

The Biebs has confirmed JB5 is coming in 2020, although the details still remain under wraps. We can predict that the album will feature the song "Yummy," a new single expected to drop January 3. It'll be his first LP since 2015's Purpose.

Haim

Sister trio Haim have released a steady stream of new singles this year, including "Hallelujah." All signs are pointing to a new album in the new year. It would mark their first full-length since 2017's Something to Tell You.

HAIM - Now I'm In Itwww.youtube.com


Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison became an unignorable force in indie rock upon the release of her debut album as Soccer Mommy, Clean. She's released a couple of new singles, including "yellow is the color of her eyes," and it seems a new record is on the horizon.

Soccer Mommy - lucy (Official Audio)www.youtube.com


Hinds

Spanish rockers Hinds released their second album, I Don't Run, in 2018, and they're due for a follow-up. They released a new song this month called "Riding Solo."

Hinds - Riding Solowww.youtube.com


Kali Uchis

Kali Uchis dropped one of the best R&B albums of 2018 with her debut LP, Isolation. She just treated fans to a new song, "Solita," which leads us to believe that a new album might be imminent.

Kali Uchis - Solita (Official Video)www.youtube.com


The Weeknd

The Weeknd recently released two new singles, "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights," and it seems a follow-up to 2018's My Dear Melancholy might be on its way.

The Weeknd - Heartless (Official Video)www.youtube.com


Charli XCX

2019 saw the release of Charli XCX's third studio album, Charli, but it appears she's ready to dive right back in. "i think i want to release 2 albums next year... or at least MAKE 2 albums next year," she tweeted in November. "i feel very inspired at the moment."

King Krule

UK experimental rocker Archy Marshall, better known as King Krule, released his magnum opus The Ooz back in 2017. He just recently followed it up with a short film he wrote himself called "Hey World!" that features four new original songs.

Hey World!www.youtube.com


Kendrick Lamar

If you ask us, Kendrick is one of the decade's defining artists. If the rumors are true, it looks like he'll be starting the 2020s on the right foot. Fans are speculating that the accomplished rapper will release his follow-up to 2017's DAMN. in the new year.

Iron Maiden

Clues have circulated suggesting that the heavy metal legends will return with their 17th studio album in 2020. Their latest, The Book of Souls, was released in 2015.

Sky Ferreira

OK, so maybe this one's a long shot. Sky Ferreira has been promising a follow-up to 2013's Night Time, My Time for so long that it almost seems like a lost cause at this point, but 2019 saw rare festival performances from her and even a new single, "Downhill Lullaby." We won't hold our breath, but we can still dream that SF2 is on its way.

Sky Ferreira - Downhill Lullaby (Audio)www.youtube.com

FILM

Marriage Story Might Help You Understand Your Parents' Divorce

Divorce is an emotionally turbulent ride, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Admittedly, I'm a little late to the hype train for Marriage Story, director Noah Baumbach's movie about a spiraling divorce between two people who still care about each other.

For months, seemingly every other article in the entire cine-sphere has been about how Marriage Story is Netflix's best movie of the year or how Adam Driver walked out of an interview after they showed a clip of him singing or how dancing Scarlett Johansson is a meme now.

So I got it. Marriage Story was supposed to be very good. But in spite of the accolades, I decided to hold off on watching it immediately. I had a feeling that, having grown up as a child of divorce, Marriage Story might induce some unpleasant flashbacks. I wanted to make sure I was in the right headspace to properly deal with that before going in.

To some extent, I was right. There are a lot of elements of Marriage Story that I imagine will drum up painful memories, both for people who have gone through divorces themselves and children who watched their parents go through the process. The most memorable scene in Marriage Story, perhaps, is the vicious argument between Adam Driver's Charlie and Scarlett Johansson's Nicole, wherein all of Charlie's pent up rage, both at Nicole and the divorce process, explodes. It's a scene absolutely surging with raw emotion, and it reminded me of all the fights I grew up watching at home.

But what truly makes Marriage Story great, aside from the impeccable performances from Driver and Johansson, is the catharsis it offers throughout. Baumbach's exploration of divorce is extremely nuanced, treating both of its lead characters with compassion and empathy. The movie opens with Charlie and Nicole reading letters that convey the things they love about one another, portraying both characters as exceedingly real. In the same way that sometimes people fall out of love over time, sometimes the same thing we once loved about someone transforms into something irreconcilable.



For instance, at one point in their relationship, Nicole loved Charlie's sense of direction in life and his ability to seemingly always know exactly what he wanted to do. But as their relationship proceeded, the downsides to that trait came into starker focus––Charlie always knew what he wanted to do, in large part, because he valued his own opinion and wants above everyone else's. Eventually, Nicole's love for that aspect of Charlie soured into the feeling that she had lost her own identity throughout their relationship.

The point to all of this is that, a lot of the time, children of divorce have a hard time reconciling two distinct images of their parents––the first image being their parents in a functioning relationship with one another and the second image being their parents as bitter enemies. Of course, this isn't true for all divorces, but it certainly was for me. Naturally, as children we oftentimes choose between our parents. But the beauty of Marriage Story is in its ability to show us an intricate, sometimes brutal conflict between two mostly decent people without making us pick a side.

Both Charlie and Nicole's hardships through the divorce process are on full display, and both believe that they're doing the right thing. They both love their son. Their relationship was complex, failing for multiple reasons, and their contempt is complicated by the fact that they both still care about one another. And after the dust settles, they figure out a way to be co-parents, even if it's not ideal for either party.

In a sense, Marriage Story is an almost wholesome view of divorce, ultimately conveying the message that even though divorce is harsh, brutal, awful even, eventually it will be over. And once it's over, people can heal, and people can change, and people who care about their children can continue to be there for them. My prevailing feeling by the end of Marriage Story wasn't bitterness or sadness, but hope. It's an emotionally turbulent ride, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

In the real world, people are much more complicated than whatever black-and-white images we may have of them from specific points in our lives. People change over time, and if they can change for the worse, maybe they can also change for the better. And while every relationship is certainly complex and entirely different, perhaps Marriage Story will help you look at whatever divorce lies in your past with a fresh perspective.