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COVID-19 has brought much of the world to a screeching halt, including your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Sony has delayed the release date for the third Spider-Man film, pushing it from July 16, 2021 to November 5, 2021. Naturally, this shifts dates for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was set for that November date, and has since been pushed to March 25, 2022.

On the plus side, the highly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder is now pushed a week earlier, to February 11, 2022. In addition, Into the Spider-Verse 2 is being pushed to October 7, 2022. Fans will have to wait a little bit longer to return to the MCU, and to new movies in general.

Given the quarantine, it’s unknown when Hollywood will go back to work. After all, film sets are just large groups of people congregating in tight spaces, so it may be a while before we see any new films or television series. It’s a good thing we’re in the midst of a content surplus, because we have plenty of films/series/quibis to tide us over until the Avengers re-assemble.

Still, it’s hard to know how much content studios already have in the can that has yet to be released. And once everything gets back to some semblance of normality, there’s no telling how and when these films will be released. While it’s been nice to catch up on everything from the couch, we’re looking forward to a time when we can return to movie theaters and see stories on the big screen.

(via io9, image: Marvel Entertainment)

• Everyone loved seeing Brad Pitt as Dr. Fauci on SNL at Home. (via AVClub)
• Captain Marvel should obviously be leading the Avengers, am I right? (via CBR)
• Sebastian Stan as Dracula? Directed by Karyn Kusama? Yes please! (via Collider)
• Watch out for drunk, dessert-stealing lizards in your back yard.

This Snakey looking fellow is an alligator lizard, who seems to be living in our tomatoes. And apparently, every night this week, has been feasting on drunken pill bugs, washing it down with Coors, and dragging the cups into the blueberries for dessert. pic.twitter.com/bSu9qewFG3

— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) April 25, 2020

• Check out this early style guide for The Simpsons characters. (via /Film)
• Dave Chappelle hosts fundraiser for Comedy Store employees with fellow comics. (via EW)
• These dolphins know how to party! (via Jezebel)
• Big Poppa the bulldog is all of us during quarantine:

Big Poppa has been so sad today, I think he miss playing with the kids in the building. He just watches them from the patio pic.twitter.com/gVooqvZ5oI

— Rae Elle (@RaeElle) April 22, 2020

Hope you’re having a Super Sunday, Mary Suevians!

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, at the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2020 (via David Fisher/Shutterstock)

America’s sweethearts Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus.

The actor announced their diagnoses via Instagram, posting an image of a discarded glove in a hazmat bin (continuing his long-running motif of abandoned accessories).

Writing from Australia, where Hanks is filming Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie, he said the pair “felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches.”

“Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers, too,” the photo caption said. “To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive.

“Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires,” he continued. “Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?”

Shooting for Luhrmann’s as-yet-unnamed biopic began early this year, with Hanks as Col. Tom Parker, the iconic manager of Elvis Presley, played by Austin Butler.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed preproduction of the film has been halted since a “company member … who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently receiving treatment.”

Wilson, meanwhile, has been performing songs from her new album “Halfway to Home” across Australia; she sang at Brisbane’s Emporium Hotel on March 5, and made her Sydney Opera House debut over the weekend.

She previously postponed a series of concerts with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush on U.S. military bases in South Korea.

Don’t worry, though: Hanks and Wilson are “not trippin'” about this whole ordeal.

Son Chet Hanks took to social media on Wednesday to confirm the news and thank his followers for their concern.

“Yeah, it’s true my parents got coronavirus. Crazy,” a shirtless Chet said in his video message. “I just got off the phone with them. They both are fine. They’re not even that sick. They’re not worried about it. They’re not trippin’, but they’re going through the necessary health precautions, obviously.

Tom Hanks’ eldest son, Colin, also tweeted an update this week.

More on Geek.com:

• Politicians Who Mocked Coronavirus Fears Enter Self-Quarantine
• Website Pairs Hand-Washing Tips With Lyrics From Your Favorite Song
• Bill Gates’ Foundation to Provide Coronavirus Home Testing Kits

Written by: April Prince @LyricAiLove

This time has been hard with everyone in quarantine and worrying about the state of the world.

But there are always ways to get a break from the stress and escape to another world, where our problems don’t exist and we can laugh and be one with ourselves. Why not watch some anime to do just that? In fact, why not try a classic anime like the one we’re talking about today? What anime might that be? It’s Ouran High School Host Club. 

Ouran High School Host Club is a 26-episode anime based on the manga of the same name by Bisco Hatori. It follows the day-to-day of Haruhi Fujioka, a first-year scholarship student at the prestigious private institute of Ouran Academy. While looking for a place to study, Haruhi stumbles into music room #3 and finds the school’s Host Club.  After accidentally knocking over a very expensive vase, priced at 8,000,000 yen, Haruhi is forced to join the Host Club to repay the debt of breaking the vase. 

Each episode centers around events and the Host Club and Ouran Academy, while Haruhi gets acclimated to the culture shock of now going to school with rather wealthy classmates and the differences in how Ouran functions compared to a normal public school. In addition to that, there are also episodes that center on the other club members and how being in the Host Club has changed their lives for the better. 

The other club members consist of third-year students Mitskuni Haninozuka (also known as Honey Senpai) and Takashi Morinozuka (also known as Mori Senpai), first-year students and twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, and second-year students Kyoya Ootori and self-proclaimed king of the Host Club, Tamaki Suoh. Throughout the anime, you’ll see each of the other members grow and change as the series goes on through their interactions with Haruhi and her different worldview compared to the ones they grew up with. 

It’s watching each character learn and change that makes watching the anime so much fun and so rewarding. It may also teach you about yourself in some ways, just by watching these characters learn new things about themselves or realize things that they’d never noticed before. Like Hikaru and Kaoru learning to be more independent from each other or Tamaki learning to ask for help just as much as he’s willing to jump in and help others. 

One of the most interesting tidbits of the series is the genderfluid expression. You may have noticed that Haruhi’s gender hasn’t been mentioned as of yet. Well, that’s because one of the interesting things about the anime is that Haruhi is a teenage girl who’s presenting as a boy while in the Host Club. Even at the beginning of the anime, in the first episode, she says that she’s not worried about whether people recognize her as a boy or a girl. She’s more interested in being seen for who she is and not what gender she presents as. This idea of gender identity being fluid comes up a lot and it’s led to Ouran being an anime that resonates with many in the LGBTQ+ community. Even Haruhi’s father expresses his gender identity in a fluid way. 

In fact, one of the central themes of the series is that no person is ever meant to be singular in any part of their life. Tamaki doesn’t have to be the hero all the time, Kyoya doesn’t have to fit into the role his father has laid out for him, The twins don’t have to be dependent on only each other, Honey can be tough and still love cute things, Takashi can be a sweetheart even with his intimidating demeanor. Even Haruhi learns that though she’s grown up taking care of herself and not relying on anyone, that even she needs help sometimes and that it’s okay to reach out to others. As mentioned earlier, seeing the characters learn more about themselves and grow is one of the most rewarding parts of this anime. 

Another amazing part of Ouran is the top-notch humor. You’ll catch yourself laughing at least once every episode. Whether it’s Honey scheming to get his hands on some sweets or the twins getting into an all-out food fight, there’s always something happening or someone making a slick comment that will cause a chuckle. Most of the time it’s Tamaki and his emotional outbursts that give most of the hilarity each episode. But the rest of the cast carries their weight in this regard as well. Haruhi’s father never leaves a scene without doling out his own brand of hilarious behavior. From playing the protective father to giving heartfelt but funny portrayals of the well-meaning but embarrassing parent. 

With all that said, if you’re looking for a series that’s short enough to be binged in one day but full enough to not leaving you with a shallow experience, Ouran High School Host Club is the anime for you. It’s the slice of life anime that never stops giving and always leaves you with a message to take away.

The post Review: ‘Ouran High School Host Club’ Explores Gender Identity in a Fluid Way appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

The swan song of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is in full swing. With the previous arc and this final one, the series has increasingly focused on Ahsoka Tano as its point of view character. With good reason, of course. We’re now officially overlapping Revenge of the Sith in the timeline. While many Clone Wars fans might be happy with a quite literal reanimation of the events of that film, it makes sense to focus on characters whose actions we haven’t yet seen during that time. 

In the most recent Clone Wars episode, “The Phantom Apprentice,” fan favorites Darth Maul and Ahsoka share a series of confrontations, both of the verbal and lightsaber variety. It’s just before the last of these, a lightsaber duel that will likely get high placement in the saga’s all-time rankings, that we get a pretty intense conversation between the two. Maul reveals what he knows about Darth Sidious, and he attempts to enlist Ahsoka’s help in bringing the Sith Lord down. 

Lucasfilm

This offer is reminiscent of several such offers in the Star Wars saga. Darth Vader asks Luke to join forces and take on the Emperor together. Kylo Ren asks the same of Rey. It’s a move from a dark side user to lure someone to embrace the dark side and become their apprentice. Maul himself has taken on an apprentice previously on The Clone Wars, his brother Savage Opress. He’ll attempt to do so again with Ezra Bridger on Star Wars Rebels. Here and now, he has his sights on Ahsoka. And for the faintest glimmer of a moment, she considers his offer. 

There are two ways to read what happens next. When Maul holds out his hand and offers Ahsoka her first steps down a potential path towards the dark side, she says she will help him. It could be a ruse on her part. It could be that she is simply saying what she knows Maul wants to hear to give herself leverage to ask her next question. She may be working Maul to find out what he wants with Anakin Skywalker. But perhaps it truly isn’t. Perhaps her initial acceptance of Maul’s offer to take down Darth Sidious is legitimate. 

An aspect of Ahsoka that I find fascinating is that while many want to consider her a “Grey Jedi,” this feels like a mistake. Despite her independence from the Jedi Order, she remains firmly rooted in the light side of the Force. She’s a ronin but a noble one. Despite her issues with the Jedi Order, despite bearing witness to the fall of the Republic and the Jedi and the rise of the Empire and Sith, she never falls. 

Lucasfilm

But there is rarely anything interesting about perfection. It’s not enough for Ahsoka to merely never encounter the temptation to fall and thus avoid it. It is far more interesting for Dave Filoni and the Clone Wars team to orchestrate a moment like this, to put a path before her that she could legitimately take, and surprise us by showing her actually consider doing it. We see what it would take to get Ahsoka to fall, a path to hell paved with the grandest of intentions. 

Taking the interpretation that Ahsoka is legitimately tempted by Maul, that for that half-second she almost followed him down his path, really ramps up what happens next. She asks Maul about Anakin and he lays her former Master’s fate, the fate we as the audience know to be true, out for her. He then states his plan to kill Anakin and foil Sidious’ plot. It’s this threat to Anakin that snaps Ahsoka out of it, that allows her to see Maul’s plan for what it really is, not an attempt to foil Sidious but simply to overtake him. To replace him. Using the death of Anakin to do it. 

This episode makes great use of Ahsoka’s attachment to Anakin. First, Obi-Wan presents her with the Jedi plot to have Anakin spy on Chancellor Palpatine—something Obi-Wan tacitly agrees with her is the wrong move. Now, her concern for Anakin is what pulls her from the edge. It foreshadows “Twilight of the Apprentice” on Star Wars Rebels. In that story, Darth Vader himself declaring the death of Anakin Skywalker is what draws Ahsoka into combat with him. Then, the tiniest ray of hope, the oh so quick re-emergence of Anakin from beneath the helmet before being overtaken again by Vader’s rage, is what draws her compassion. In both cases, it’s what saves her. 

Lucasfilm

It is exactly these kinds of moments that show why a character can still surprise us, even when her past and future are extremely well documented. This is why it’s so amazing that The Clone Wars got to come back to finish out their tale. Seeing her slip and regain her footing at this moment gives a new angle on Ahsoka as a character that still feels organic to the trajectory of her story. Episodes like this are exactly what we were hoping for with this return. It has made the sometimes impatient journey through the previous two arcs completely worth it. And there are still two episodes left! And… oh no, there are only two episodes left.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

The post The Last Temptation of Ahsoka Tano appeared first on Nerdist.