Sesko soars as Manchester United surge past Sabah on Champions League…

Asa Germann has been cast as Angel in the MCU's upcoming X-Men movie, and this is the best casting choice thus far.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Germann initially auditioned for Scott Summers aka Cyclops, which ultimately went to Heartstopper star Kit Connor.

Germann is best known for his role as Sam Riordan in The Boys spin-off Gen V, which centered on a group of young Supes at a Supes-only university. Sam was not among the student population, but was kidnapped and experimented on by the people in charge of the university in order to help create a virus that would kill all Supes.

Germann's performance as Sam is captivating, and he brings so much vulnerability, raw intensity, and a dark psychological complexity to the role. That's exactly what it takes to play Angel, who was quite literally introduced on-screen in X-Men: The Last Stand as a child cutting off his own wings. Marvel really hit the nail on the head with this one, and I am so ridiculously stoked.

The rest of the cast includes Maya Boyd as Storm, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, and Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, respectively. Sadie Sink made her debut as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

X-Men hits theaters on May 5, 2028. For more, check out our guide to everything announced at D23 2026. We've also rounded up all of the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way in 2026 and beyond.

Deep sea exploration and restaurant management game Dave the Diver is still going deep: Developer Mintrocket says the game has now moved past 10 million copies sold across all platforms, while the In the Jungle expansion that came out in June has moved past one million sales of its own.

Dave the Diver was an "out-of-nowhere hit" when it arrived in 2023, earning a whopping 91% review score at PC Gamer—a site that does not give out many 90+ scores—and selling more than a million copies in just 10 days. A nomination at the 2023 Game Awards in the Best Indie Game category led to a small spot of controversy: Mintrocket is a division of Nexon, and so very much not an indie studio.

The overall impact seemed minimal, though, in part because Dave the Diver didn't win, but also because game director Jaeho Hwang has been pretty clear that he doesn't think of it as an indie game either.

The fact that Dave the Diver is a really good game that continued to get better with post-launch updates and crossovers that actually made sense is also probably helpful in that regard. In the Jungle, the DLC that came out earlier this year, is a banger in its own right: PC Gamer's Chris Livingston scored it a 90%, declaring it "just as charming and surprising as the base game."

"Everyone here at Mintrocket continues to be blown away by the passion and love that Dave the Diver attracts even years after launch," Hwang said of the big sales milestone. "We are looking forward to expanding the Dave the Diver franchise in the future, including the upcoming cooking simulation and adventure spin-off, Bancho The Chef. We want to thank everyone who has shown their faith in us, and we can’t wait to share our future plans."

Bancho the Chef, a prequel to Dave the Diver, is a cooking simulation adventure game that follows Bancho, the chef at Dave's restaurant, in his younger days, when he was "on the road to becoming a sushi master." A release date hasn't yet been set but it's up for pre-purchase now on Steam.

Playing a Ubisoft game from Steam usually requires installing and running Ubisoft Connect, which is the publisher's own desktop launcher. It's annoying to use one launcher—Steam—to access another launcher—Ubisoft Connect—in order to play an Assassin's Creed game, but it's been that way for years, and Ubisoft isn't alone in insisting on it: EA and Rockstar both do it too.

But it looks like Ubisoft is changing tack: starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, for some reason, the publisher is "testing" doing away with the launcher altogether, though software will still run in the background for "cross-progression, cross-play, player safety, challenges and rewards" via a new Ubisoft Connect Services Steam tool.

"This first version is an initial step toward a smoother and more streamlined launch experience on Steam," the Steam announcement reads. "We will continue to iterate and improve Ubisoft Connect Services over time, with the goal of delivering the features and services players use and expect while making the Steam experience as seamless as possible."

I don't think this means you won't need a Ubisoft Connect account: It'll likely operate more like Diablo 4, which requires a Battle.net account but doesn't require launching the Battle.net application.

The post also promises that the new method will roll out to other Ubisoft games in the future. It'll be nice when it does: I've definitely resisted the spontaneous urge for a Rainbow Six Siege match due to the petty annoyance of getting it to open. When Robin Valentine rated all of PC gaming's launchers in 2024, Ubisoft's came in very close to the bottom.

"Another launcher only used under duress, Ubisoft Connect's most notable feature is adding even more things to earn and buy to Ubisoft's already overstuffed games," he wrote.

If you've started a new character or world in Valheim 1.0 from the beginning (or are playing it for the first time ever), you may be wondering about the Battle Idols and Protection Idols you've found. While opening chests in Valhiem's various biomes, you will occasionally come across an item called a Battle Idol or Protection Idol made of wood, bronze, iron, or other materials.

These Idols don't seem to serve an immediate purpose, but hang onto any you find because you'll eventually be able to use them to upgrade your weapons and armor.

Valheim Idols: Where to find them

Idols can randomly be found as loot in chests, and chests can spawn in various places in the world: abandoned houses, burial chambers, ruined towers, shipwrecks, Viking graveyards, and other points of interest.

Which type of Idol you find will depend on what biome you're in:

• Wooden Idol: Meadows biome
• Bronze Idol: Black Forest biome
• Iron Idol: Swamp Biome
• Silver Idol: Mountains biome
• Black Metal Idol: Plains biome
• Black Marble Idol: Mistlands biome
• Flametal Idol: Ashlands biome
• Bloodgold Idol: Deep North biome

The Idols will allow you to upgrade your weapons and armor: the Battle Idols are used to improve your weapons, and the Protection Idols are used to improve your armor. You can only use Idols at one place: the Forge of Potential.

How to find the Forge of Potential

To find Valheim's Forge of Potential, you'll need to search the Mountains biome. Since it's so cold there, be sure to have items that keep you warm, like frost resistance mead, or a wolf fur cape or wolf fur armor chestpiece to avoid freezing.

Once you're close to the Forge of Potential, an icon that looks like an Idol will appear on your map:

In both worlds I've found it in, the Forge of Potential has been very close to boss Moder's summoning altar, but I don't know if that's a rule for where it appears or if that was just luck. Both times it has been near the top of a tall peak, however.

How to use the Forge of Potential

The forge is a workbench you can use to upgrade your gear if you have an Idol and suitable gear in your inventory. Each Idol will work with gear made of the same material: if you have a Bronze Protection Idol, for example, you can upgrade a piece of armor made of Bronze. An Iron Battle Idol will let you upgrade an iron weapon.

Interacting with the Forge will let you select the gear you want to upgrade if you have an Idol in your inventory. Press the "Attempt Refinement" button to activate it.

Important: The Forge has a chance of failure. If your refinement fails, the gear you're attempting to upgrade will be destroyed, though you'll recover the crafting materials needed to remake it. You won't be able to use the Forge of Potential to recraft it, however: it can only be used for upgrades.

You'll also take damage if your upgrade fails, so be sure you're at full health!

Forge of Potential upgrade results

Is upgrading worth it? Here's a look at one example of a bronze sword I upgraded at the Forge of Potential:

You can see that the durability increased by 50 points, slash damage went from 41 (11-24) up to 47 (13-27), and block force went from 25 to 30, but all other stats remained the same.