Friends will be exclusive to HBO Max. | WarnerMedia/Getty Images

HBO and HBO Max’s convoluted relationship, explained.

On Wednesday, May 27, WarnerMedia is launching its new streaming juggernaut HBO Max.

The service will be home to a wide variety of programming from across the WarnerMedia parent company — a gigantic conglomerate whose brands include everything from the Warner Bros. film studio to the HBO premium cable network to the Turner family of cable networks. Consequently, it will boast plenty of high-profile HBO Max exclusives, like Friends, DC’s superhero films, and a constantly curated list of classic films from the Turner Classic Movies library. But it will also feature non-WarnerMedia programming like the complete library of legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli and the complete archives of South Park (eventually).

Hearing the name “HBO Max” and reading about all of that exclusive content might