When I heard Sony was creating a movie movie based on the on-again-off-again villain/antihero Venom, I was ecstatic. Venom is my favorite Marvel character, and I don’t want the less-than-spectacular Spider-Man 3 to be his/their (pronouns are so confusing when you talk about two symbiotic entities acting as one) only movie. While I am overjoyed that the character(s) is finally getting the recognition he/they deserve, assuming the movie is actually good, I am concerned about one specific creative decision: the lack of Spider-Man in the movie.
Yesterday, during the world premiere of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told Variety that Spider-Man will not appear in the upcoming Venom movie.
Will Spider-Man appear in the new "Venom" movie? We asked @Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige | #SpiderManHomecoming Premiere pic.twitter.com/rRA8J8DKPG
— Variety (@Variety) June 29, 2017
“No, I think the folks there are making a great ‘Venom’ movie,” explained Feige, “and I don’t know much about it, but I know they’re off to a good start with Tom Hardy.”
My problem is Venom is inextricably linked to Spider-Man, as he/they are a dark reflection of Spider-Man and what he could have been if he ever succumbed to evil. Furthermore, almost every one of Venom’s powers (such as web-slinging, super strength, and wall-crawling) is copied directly from Spider-Man. In fact, his/their most dangerous power is the ability to bypass Spider-Man’s iconic spider-sense, which works similarly to ESP.
Since the Venom movie will take place in the same universe as Spider-Man: Homecoming (which takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is separate from the previous two Spider-Man movie franchises), it will act as an origin story. Since Spider-Man is literally Venom’s origin, the movie will likely run into a hurdle when it tries to explain why Venom has all of Spider-Man’s powers. The writers will probably have to use a clunky exposition dump instead of an organic “show, don’t tell” scene. Given Marvel’s track record with movies, I am confident the writers will provide an extremely plausible and convincing explanation, even though showing Spider-Man during the explanation would be more effective from a cinematography and storytelling standpoint. Still, Marvel’s downright addiction to having characters from one Marvel movie cameo in another makes Spider-Man’s absence, especially in a movie that centers around his arch-nemesis, feel like a bone-headed decision; it’s like making a movie about War Machine without a cameo by Iron Man/Tony Stark. Maybe I’m just being a nitpicky fanboy, because Spider-Man cameo or not, I still look forward to the Venom movie when it releases in 2018, and I wish the movie’s star Tom Hardy (Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road) the best of luck.
Gaming
Larian Reveals Baldur’s Gate 3’s Mildest Multiclass Builds

Since the excellent Baldur’s Gate 3 has been out in the wild for a while, interesting data can be gleaned, such as how players choose to play an innovative new RPG from home. Stats from developer Larian Studios and posted on the PlayStation Blog show that most people want to play as a stealthy archer like in Skyrim when given nearly limitless options.
According to a fascinating graph, Rogue/Ranger is the most popular multiclass build, with over 175,000 players using it to snipe unsuspecting enemies from range. The next two builds reveal similarly. 150,000 played Barbarian/Fighter because they loved pummeling things, and 109,00 played Barbarian/Paladin, which lets players talk to their victims before beatings.
More sense emerges as you descend. If the Paladin/Warlock/Sorcerer/Bard has high Charisma, any combination can be interesting. Charisma helps these classes cast spells and abilities and interact with NPCs outside of combat.
Playing a single class through Baldur’s Gate 3 feels great, which is what most players do. A pure Fighter or Wizard becomes so powerful by game’s end that we don’t blame you for not mixing things up!
Play as a Tiefling Oathbreaker Paladin, Dark Urge Origin (which you must resist), or Bard for real moral dilemmas. You could also play pseudo-Aragorn again.
Gaming
Techland Shows Durable Dying Light 2 Content Roadmap

Techland is continuing to release Dying Light 2 content as part of its long-term support. This is surprising since the meaty Good Night, Good Luck update was released a few months ago. It’s nice to know what’s coming, but no timeline was given.
IGN-exclusive roadmap trailers reveal more co-op missions, board quests, a tower raid, and replayable GRE anomalies. Executions and finishers may be added to the April Gut Feeling update, which overhauled melee mechanics. Graphical options, weapon repair, gear, and mod dismantling are always welcome.
Knives, polearms, and more enemy variants are coming, including a Nightmare difficulty. Changes to NG+ include firearms. Players can finally dress to their hearts’ content with new cosmetic options.
Has Techland’s Dying Light 2 support lured you back? Would you rather focus on something new?
Gaming
Epic to Globalize V-Buck Price Hike

Epic Games expanded the Fortnite V-Buck “pricing alignment” after laying off almost 900 employees, citing “inflation and currency fluctuations”. Fortnite’s premium currency will rise in international markets, including the largest.
Epic Games will raise the price of V-Bucks and real money content packs in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and the US (including all US Dollar storefronts) on October 27.
Raising the price of this fictitious currency was successful when the company trialed it in the UK, Canada, and Mexico, so it was decided to announce it worldwide now. These USD increases range from $1 (1000 V-Bucks, previous $7.99) to $10 (13,500 V-Bucks, previous $79.99).
How do you view Epic’s timing and pricing increase?
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