The Sopranos is back in the limelight thanks to the release of The Many Saints of Newark, the prequel movie that's available now on HBO Max and in theaters. (Read our review of The Many Saints of Newark right here.)

While HBO had found success with scripted dramas like Oz and Sex and the City, The Sopranos cemented HBO's reputation when it debuted in 1999 as a haven for quality programming and top-notch storytelling, paving the way for more great HBO fare like The Wire, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under, and for networks like FX and AMC to make similar transformations. Without Tony Soprano (played by the late and truly great James Gandolfini), the television landscape might be a very different, and less interesting, place.

In honor of the release of Many Saints, we've picked our favorite moments from The Sopranos' six (or is that six-and-a-half?) seasons. Some are funny, some are morbid, but all made for compelling TV.

And for more on The Many Saints of Newark, check out how it answers a long-lingering Sopranos question.

Spoilers, of course, follow!

20. Tony the Re-Gifter

As seen in: "The Happy Wanderer" (Season 2)

It can't be easy growing up as the child of a mafia manager. Dad is constantly spoiling you with expensive gifts, all while expecting you not to ask where those gifts came from. Meadow got a very uncomfortable reminder of the true nature of her father's work in this episode, which chronicles the sad downfall of Robert Patrick's compulsive gambler character David Scatino.

Over the course of "The Happy Wanderer," we see David lose his family and his business after getting into debt. That culminates when Tony claims David's son's Nissan Pathfinder as partial repayment, only to turn around and re-gift it to Meadow — who is also friends with David! Why he thought she wouldn't notice the suspicious circumstances behind her new car is beyond us. But it's one of several key moments in the series where Meadow is forced to acknowledge that her father is not a good man.

19. Carmela's Breakdown

As seen in: "Join the Club" (Season 6)

Season 6 started off on an unexpectedly shocking note, with a befuddled Uncle Junior shooting his own nephew at the end of the season premiere. "Join the Club" explores the aftermath, with Tony's family keeping vigil even as a comatose Tony himself navigates a strange sort of Purgatory.

This episode remains fairly divisive among Sopranos fans, as "dream episodes" often tend to be. But one thing we can all agree on is that Edie Falco delivers some of her strongest acting work in the entire series as Carmela encounters her comatose husband for the first time and completely breaks down. However toxic their relationship might have become over the course of the series, never was her lingering love for Tony more apparent.

18. Evidently Chickentown

As seen in: "Stage 5" (Season 6)

As The Sopranos entered the back half of its last season, a lot of elements that were setting up the final battle between Tony and Phil Leotardo began to click into place. That’s particularly true of the eventful and sad episode “Stage 5,” which sees Tony and Christopher's up and down relationship takes a severe turn for the worse when Tony sees his nephew's slasher film Cleaver and comes to believe that the hateful title character is based on him. Meanwhile, Johnny Sack succumbs to cancer in prison, and Phil once again gives into his frustration and rage over the death of his brother.

And that’s where this moment comes into play, as Phil sits with his lieutenant Butch and bemoans the state of things and the perceived mistreatment of himself and his family, including the changing of his family name from Leonardo way back when at Ellis Island. “Leotardo — that’s my f#@king legacy!” he says. As the intense “Evidently Chickentown” plays on the soundtrack, the camera pans across the photos of Phil’s dead friends that hang above the bar, his mind finally set on one thing and one thing only: revenge. The scene then cuts to Tony and Christopher embracing at the baptism of Christopher’s daughter, both fully aware of the unspoken animosity between them.

17. Le Morte d’Christopher

As seen in: "Kennedy and Heidi" (Season 6)

The Sopranos was good at shocking us with death scenes and bursts of violence, but there was perhaps no other death that was more surprising than this one, as main character and former heir apparent to Tony, Christopher, finally bought it. And not just that, but he died by Tony’s own hand.

After flipping their SUV because of Christopher’s drug-addled driving, Tony emerges relatively unscathed. But Christopher is badly injured, with his raspy attempts to breathe clearly indicating as much. Tony flips open his phone to call 911 and gets as far as “91” before her makes his decision, covering his nephew’s mouth and nose and suffocating him. Is it a mercy kill, because Tony knows Christopher can never escape the lure of drugs and the damage it does? Or is it simply another case of Tony seeing five steps ahead and making the most business savvy move he can? Surely it’s the latter, and as Chrissy stares at his uncle, he drowns in his own blood as it fills his lungs. And really, is Tony any different than the teenage girls of the title, who were on the other end of the near-collision and decided to not go back to help Tony and Christopher because they were on their learner’s permit after dark? Self-interest is all-encompassing on The Sopranos.

16. Goodbye Uncle Junior

As seen in: "Made in America" (Season 6)

In the end, Uncle Junior wound up perhaps worse off than the many mob associates who he had outlived and outsmarted. Lost in his own mind and doomed to live out his final days in a state facility, Junior finds himself face to face with his nephew Tony one last time in one of the saddest scenes in the entire series.

This takes place in the much-anticipated series finale, where a lot of other business also needed to be dealt with, but series creator David Chase (who also wrote and directed the finale) is careful to give this all-important relationship its due. As Tony, still angry at his uncle for shooting him earlier in the season, comes to realize that Junior is not really Junior anymore, his rage turns to tears. "You and my dad — you two ran North Jersey," Tony says. “We did?” responds Junior. “Well, that’s nice.”

15. The Chinese Prince Matchabelli

As seen in: "Rat Pack" (Season 5)

If The Sopranos had a designated comic relief character, it was Paulie Walnuts. Paulie fancied himself a suave ladies man and all-around competent capo, but his cluelessness tended to get the better of him throughout the series. In this episode, Paulie took Tony's advice and began reading (or listening to) Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Hoping to impress his friends, Paulie waxed on about the genius of "Sun Tizzou," a man he praised as "The Chinese Prince Matchabelli," until the more worldly Silvio Dante finally set him straight.

But the best moment in Paulie's brief flirtation with culture came when he listened to Sun Tizzou in his car, knowingly absorbing the lesson "He will win, when he knows when to fight, and when not to fight" and nodding knowingly. No sooner did he absorb this bit of wisdom than Paulie launched out of his car, delivering a savage beating to a group of gardeners who owed him money. Lesson learned?

14. "Big Pussy" Gets Whacked

As seen in: "Funhouse" (Season 2)

The Sopranos capped off its second season with the death of a major character. We all knew Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero's days were numbered once he flipped and became an FBI informant, but that didn't make the actual moment any less tragic.

The kicker in this scene comes when Big Pussy finishes reminiscing about his Puerto Rican lover, only for Tony to turn cold and ask, "Did she even exist?" It's a quiet reminder that, for Tony, the true injury is less having his secrets spoiled to the FBI, but being betrayed by a close friend. It's in this moment that Big Pussy truly realizes what's coming. He'll never see dry land again.

13. Vito Accidentally Comes Out

As seen in: "Unidentified Black Males" (Season 5)

The mafioso culture seen in The Sopranos is all about machismo – proving to everyone else in the family that you're tough, worthy of respect, and a red-blooded male of the highest order. It's not a culture that welcomes homosexuality. So it was a bit of a shock when Meadow's then-boyfriend Finn accidentally caught Vito Spatafore performing oral sex on a male security guard at the construction site they both "worked" at.

It was a twist that initially resulted in a humorous subplot as Finn wasn't sure whether Vito was looking to whack him for seeing too much or trying to seduce him. Finn's solution was to get engaged to Meadow. But eventually Vito's story took a dark turn when he was exposed to the rest of the crew and forced to go into hiding. His tragic, brutal death later in the series would cause a serious rift between the Soprano and Lupertazzi families.

12. Janice – A True Soprano

As seen in: "The Knight in White Satin Armor" (Season 2)

For much of her early appearances, Tony's sister Janice made a grand show of distancing herself from the family business. She was a bohemian free spirit who traveled the world and dabbled in all sorts of crazy jobs before returning to Jersey to pester her brother. But that facade quickly faded away when she started dating her old high school boyfriend (and Tony's rival) Richie Aprile. Suddenly, Janice reverted to the stereotypical mafia housewife.

But Richie learned the hard way that Soprano blood runs deep. After calmly punching Janice in the face during an argument, he returned to his meal, only to have a dumbstruck Janice come back in the room and shoot him dead. So after weeks of exacerbating the rivalry between Tony and Richie, Janice immediately put it to rest. Funny how things work out.

11. Christopher's Intervention

As seen in: "The Strong, Silent Type" (Season 4)

If every junkie hits bottom eventually, then Christopher Moltisanti's came when he accidentally killed fiance Adriana's dog while sitting on it in the midst of a heroin high. This finally forced the rest of the family to sit Christopher down for an intervention. And true to form for The Sopranos, that intervention resulted in Christopher getting beaten up and sent to the hospital.

The key moment, however, came when Tony again confronted his nephew in the hospital room. Tony suddenly morphs from caring uncle to vengeful mob boss, telling Christopher in no uncertain terms that he's only still alive because he's family. In more ways than one, this scene is haunting because of how we know their relationship eventually plays out.

10. Oh My!

As seen in: "Whoever Did This" (Season 4)

Once Richie Aprile was out of the picture, Ralph Cifaretto took over as the obnoxious, overly ambitious, Janice-dating thorn in Tony's side. But as it turns out, it was a different woman that brought the two men to blows – Pie-O-My the racehorse.

Tony, as is his way, was far more attached to the impressive steed than Ralphie, who only cared about the money she could bring in. And when a freak stable fire killed the horse, conveniently granting Ralphie the $200,000 life insurance payment he so desperately needed, Tony snapped. A few frantic moments later, Ralphie was strangled to death. As with Richie, we all knew Ralphie was going to meet his end sooner or later. It just didn't happen in quite the manner expected.

9. The College Tour

As seen in: "College" (Season 1)

A lot of shows take entirely too long to start living up to their full potential. But The Sopranos was firing on all cylinders by its fifth episode, which followed Tony and his daughter, Meadow, as they embarked on a college tour. "College" highlighted the tricky balancing act Tony was forced to maintain as a family man and a boss in one of the most powerful crime families in the Northeast. Is it hypocritical for a man who kills and extorts for a living to chastise his daughter for taking speed pills to cram for the SATs?

Never was the stark divide between Tony's personal and professional lives more apparent than when he dropped Meadow off at a school for an interview and proceeded to hunt down and kill former mafioso-turned-FBI mole Fabian Petrulio. What would Meadow say if she knew her father was choking a man with a garrote as she was touring the campus? It was a complicated relationship, indeed.

8. I Heard the Tapes, Ma

As seen in: "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" (Season 1)

More often than not, it was those closest to Tony who posed the greatest threat to his life and livelihood. He finally became aware of the full scope of the conspiracy his Uncle Junior and mother Livia were planning against him after hearing taped recordings of their conversations. Tony quickly rushed to Livia's nursing home with the intent of suffocating her with her own pillow.

But he was too late. Livia was already being wheeled away by the staff after suffering a stroke. Tony whispered into his mother's ear, "I heard the tapes, Ma." It was the show's equivalent of "I know it was you, Fredo." But instead of cowering, Livia responded with a faint, chilling smile. Of all the monsters on the show, she may have been the worst.

7. The Ducks Fly Away

As seen in: "The Sopranos" (Season 1)

Tony Soprano is not your typical mafia protagonist. He's a very flawed man, but there's also a sensitive side to him that's been beaten down and repressed by a lifetime of living in a manocentric male-ocracy. The very first episode set the stage for Tony's complicated personal problems by introducing the ducks. Animals, especially these ducks, would be a recurring motif throughout the series. Seeing the ducks leave their impromptu home in his pool and venture back out into the world caused a panic attack. To Tony, some key piece of his life was gone forever. And his struggle to understand just exactly what he was feeling would last throughout the series.

This panic attack was also preceded by one of the series' most memorable one-liners – "What, no f***ing ziti?"

6. Melfi's Choice

As seen in: "Employee of the Month" (Season 3)

One of the darker moments in a thoroughly dark show came when Tony's psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi, was raped in a parking garage in Season 3. But that's not the moment we want to honor. More important is the pivotal choice that followed, as Dr. Melfi struggled to move forward and wrestled with the idea of turning to Tony for revenge. It would have damned her, but it was an enticing possibility all the same. Ultimately, Melfi decided to let her attacker be.

But as we saw in this episode, she relished the knowledge that she held the power over the man's life. One quick phone call, and her rapist would suffer a fate worse than any mafioso gunned down over the course of the series.

5. Lost in the Woods

As seen in: "Pine Barrens" (Season 3)

The entire episode "Pine Barrens" really qualifies as a top moment for the series. What began as a simple job for Christopher and Paulie – executing an enforcer from the Russian mob – went to pieces when said Russian escaped, shrugged off a bullet to the head, and vanished into the snow-covered South Jersey forest. Before Christopher and Paulie knew it, they were stranded, lost, and squabbling over their meager rations of crackers and ketchup packets.

The episode was frequently hilarious, but also tinged with the suspense of never knowing when and if the Russian might emerge and attack his would-be killers, or what impact their failure might have on the Soprano family. As it turned out, the show never addressed the Russian's fate, and it remains one of the big sore points for many fans.

4. Adriana Realizes She's Doomed

As seen in: "Long Term Parking" (Season 5)

If we've learned anything from mafia movies, it's that rats usually meet a bad end. And that was certainly on our minds during the stretch that viewers waited with bated breath to see if Adriana would survive her forced status as a mole for the FBI. In this episode, she finally broke down and confessed her duplicity to Christopher, begging him to leave their life behind and enter the Witness Protection program. Given Chris' own frustrations with the family and his desire to be the next Donnie Brasco, it very nearly seemed as though he would take the opportunity.

Instead, Adriana received a call that Chris had fallen back into his drug habits and was in the hospital. She rode with kindly Silvio, realizing only too late that she was being escorted to her death — even as she had visions of escaping on her own, bags packed and driving away from her doom. That moment where it all clicked was somehow even worse than when the deed was done. It was a tragic end for a well-meaning character. Chris turning his fiance over to his uncle solidified once and for all his loyalty to the family, but it also sealed his own fate in a way.

3. Tony and Carmela's Big Blowout

As seen in: "Whitecaps" (Season 4)

From the very beginning of the series, Tony was never what anyone would describe as a model husband. He lied. He cheated on his wife. He committed countless crimes to provide his family with the luxuries they craved. But in his culture, that's all to be expected. But for a wife to cheat on her husband? That's unthinkable.

The simmering tensions between Tony and Carmela finally boiled over in the Season 4 finale after Tony's former mistress Irina called the Soprano household. Carmela revealing her own emotional affair with Furio sent Tony over the edge, and he came as close as he ever would to physically striking his wife. Instead, he took his rage out on the wall. It was a scary glimpse at the monster within, and it caused a lasting rift between the two that only began to heal in the years that followed.

2. A.J.'s Suicide Attempt

As seen in: "The Second Coming" (Season 6)

Anthony Jr. was probably never most viewers' favorite character on the show. He was a whiny, entitled brat most of the time, lacking most of his older sister's good qualities but never displaying the toughness needed to be a good soldier. But as Anthony wrestled more and more with his depression and guilt in later seasons, he became a more identifiable figure.

And that character development paid off tremendously in this episode. A despondent A.J. made a halfhearted suicide attempt, trying to drown himself in the pool but quickly realizing he didn't want to die. Luckily, Tony arrived just in time to rescue his son from his huge mistake. Initially, Tony berated A.J. for being so weak and stupid. But as A.J. sobbed, that all broke down and Tony the loving father emerged. Seeing Tony stroke his son's hair and tell him "It's okay, baby" is powerfully affecting. In fact, it's the single most gut-wrenching moment of the entire series. This scene, as much as anything else in James Gandolfini's career, is a showcase for his tremendous range and talent as an actor.

1. The Diner Scene

As seen in: "Made in America" (Season 6)

At one point, the final scene of the series also ranked as one of the most hated, despised, and reviled scenes in television history. And on some level, it's not hard to understand why. By the end of the final season, Tony had defeated his enemies in the Lupertazzi family once and for all. A relative peace was restored, although many friends, allies, and loved ones had fallen along the way. Hanging over this victory was a sense of dread. Viewers knew at any moment that a rival mafia member might come seeking vengeance, or government agents could storm in to take Tony away.

The final scene played out in a diner, reminiscent of the final scene of Season 1's finale in Nuovo Vesuvio. As Tony waited for each of his family members to arrive, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" played on the jukebox. He eyed other diner patrons who might have been innocent bystanders or soldiers waiting to gun him down. The final shot saw Tony look up at the door just as the song cried "Don't stop…" The episode cut to black, and — eventually — the credits rolled.

Reactions to this ending were mixed at best. But over time, this scene has become popular precisely because of its ambiguity. Did Tony die? Was this David Chase's way of calling back to Tony's conversation with his brother-in-law Bobby about the sudden, unexpected nature of death? Ultimately, it didn't matter. Whatever Tony's final fate, it was clear that his days were numbered. His luck can't last forever.

What are your favorite moments from The Sopranos? Let's discuss in the comments!

October 10, 2021: This story has been updated with the latest information about The Many Saints of Newark.

In a special broadcast aired at Tokyo Game Show 2021 Online, Sega and Atlus showed new gameplay footage of Shin Megami Tensei V, due for a Japanese release on November 11, 2021. This demo differed from the one on the show floor and published yesterday by IGN, and featured an extended battle against a red ogre.

The player (a Japanese game writer named Mafia Kajita, a self-identified fan of the series) explored a sandy ruined area of Tokyo, leading him to compare the sights to the famous sand dunes of Tottori. Monsters freely roam the map and are not only visible but audible to the player; masked Ippon-Datara wailed from underneath their masks, making a horrible sound. Kajita engaged in several small fights, showing off a variety of attacks on weaker monsters, including a Mermaid's scream which can freeze enemies and shatter them if they run out of HP.

Shin Megami Tensei V battles aren't all about fighting though, as the player can choose at any time to try and talk to the demons and work something out. Kajita met a trio of "crazy birds" and befriended one immediately, ending combat and netting a new party member at the same time. Other monsters needed more convincing: A bicorn told the hero he "smelled like a human," prompting Kajita to choose the response, "I ate their food". The bicorn was repulsed, saying, "Human food is GROSS," so it passed him an antitoxin item and promptly vanished.

The encounter with the giant ogre began in conversation, as the beast bragged of his strength and ferocity before admitting a problem: He's so strong and so scary, none of the other monsters will share their problems with him, they just run away. He tasked the player with finding out which monsters need his help, offering them a chance to become a "boss" in his organization. However, despite talking to several small creatures, none of them would admit to this. Kajita returned to the ogre to break the news to him, and it enraged him. He went outside and threatened the other monsters, leading them to beg for help from the player character, making the ogre madder and triggering a battle.

The fight took a long time, as the ogre had so much HP the game would not display the total number. Kajita wore the grouchy giant down by exploiting his weak points (receiving extra combat actions) and putting him to sleep such that he would miss his turns. The pattern did not hold up, and the ogre was able to hit Kajita’s entire party for massive damage. Eventually the time came to end the segment, but Kajita refused to put the controller down. The staff relented, giving him "five minutes" to finish the battle.

The extra time was just barely enough to get the job done, as Kajita finished the ogre off, forcing him to admit he felt "shame" before running away. Not only did the little demons thank the player and reward him for the fight, but the ogre also gave him a present and the game considered this a completed quest.

During a non-interactive segment, there was new footage shown of a cutscene between four powerful looking demons. They each identified themselves as coming from different regions around the world: Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia and India. Each demon’s character design lined up with its geographic origins as well. Kajita compared the scene to the Avengers, but also admitted that it was so short, he doesn't know what relevance it has to the story. Most of the program featured speculation about the narrative of the game, as the staff admitted that very little information regarding the plot has been made public.

As the program wrapped up with release information and showing off a deluxe edition, the English broadcast team reminded the audience that local launch dates and packaging will vary by region. For the United States, Shin Megami Tensei V is scheduled to arrive on November 12, 2021.

Diamond Feit is a writer/podcaster in Osaka, Japan who uses Twitter and Twitch as feitclub.

The development team behind Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin have been taking player feedback to heart as they work to improve the game ahead of its release next year – in ways even they didn’t expect.

After hearing all the speculation from fans about the identity of Chaos following the initial demo that was released in the summer, the developers — a collaboration of minds from Square Enix and Team Ninja — went ahead and included his name (Jack Garland, i.e. the name of the main character) in the new trailer that was shown during Tokyo Game Show 2021.

“The protagonist is Garland, and I’d had in mind for a while that one day, I’d like to tell the story of how Garland turns into Chaos,” producer Tetsuya Nomura said during a special presentation for the game on Saturday night. Nomura participated as a voiceover, while other members of the team and two guest players appeared in person. “But for some reason, the trailer spoiled the twist, I guess.”

Jin Fujiwara, one of the producers, told the team the proverbial moogle was out of the bag already, leading to the inclusion of the scene at the end of the TGS trailer.

“Fujiwara told me as well,” Nomura said. “He said, ‘People outside of Japan have figured it out already, let's just reveal it’.”

Other than spoiling Nomura’s twist, the feedback the team received from the first demo has led to a number of changes. The graphics have been given an update and the lighting has been adjusted after players complained the initial demo was too dark. The new demo — and presumably the final game — will also support rendering in 4K.

“We’ve put a lot of energy into making sure that it runs at a high frame rate, even at that kind of high resolution,” Koei Tecmo director Hiroya Usuda said.

Even though there was positive feedback from the first demo about the gameplay and the game’s responsiveness, the team still made adjustments in that area. The Lightbringer attack, for instance, now consumes more MP, but lasts for a longer duration. There have also been tweaks to MP and how fast the break gauge refills.

A new feature called Resonance has been added to help improve the usefulness of the NPC characters in your party. The other characters will be more aggressive in using their abilities while Resonance is in effect. The feature was added to improve the AI performance of the NPCs in your party. Players can now also change the jobs of the other characters in their party.

The NPCs can now be equipped with new gear, which was the team’s way of solving the issue of the copious amount of loot drops, which led to players saying they couldn’t use it all. The game's tutorials have also been tweaked and new ones have been added to help introduce players to this game's world.

The game is hard, similar to Team Ninja’s Nioh series, and the difficulty levels have been rebranded as “story” and “action”. Additionally, the game’s difficulty will not change based on whether it’s being played in single or multiplayer mode.

“We wanted to make a difficulty level for people who want to focus on enjoying the story,” Square Enix director Daisuke Inoue said of the story difficulty setting.

Gameplay of the multiplayer portion of the game was also featured during the showcase.

“We received a lot of feedback from people who wanted to play multiplayer, or who wanted to play with their friends,” Inoue said. “That was something we really wanted to include as well.”

Three members of the panel — playing as Jack, Ash and Neon — teamed up to tackle the new area from the demo, the Refrin Wetlands, the new area from the current demo. One of the guest players mentioned some of the refrains in the stage’s soundtrack sounded familiar, and then wondered if she should not say anything else, which Inoue quickly agreed with — possibly hinting at some sort of potential callback.

The multiplayer section showed the three-person team taking on enemies and using the abilities of the job classes they chose for their characters. They pummeled enemies in unison and eventually took down the boss, after some close calls, to end the trial.

Job classes also come into play in multiplayer and can be used strategically in some cases. For example, a white mage who charges a spell for long enough will be able to widen the area of effect and benefit the rest of the party.

Since the difficulty does not scale in multiplayer, the developers said it was probably easier to play in a group rather than alone.

The team will also be taking feedback from the second demo and applying it to the final game. The current demo will remain available on the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S stores until October 11. The survey, where players can submit feedback, will run until October 18.

The game, which is a spinoff from but not a direct sequel to Final Fantasy, is scheduled for release on March 18, 2022, but pre-orders for a standard edition and a digital deluxe edition are live now. The title is part of the Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary, which will be in 2022. To learn more, you can also check out our first preview after getting our hands-on the game.

Jason Coskrey is a writer based in Tokyo. Find him on Twitter at @JCoskrey

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage! If you haven't already, be sure to check out IGN's full review of the sequel.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage finally brings one of the most iconic superhero comic rivalries to the big screen, as Tom Hardy's Venom takes on Woody Harrelson's Carnage. Two symbiotes enter a church, and only one leaves in the end.

While we're hardly surprised to see Venom emerge victorious from this super-powered brouhaha, it is a bit shocking to see Harrelson's twisted character killed off in the final battle. Would Sony really kill off Venom's deadliest foe this early into the franchise?

Maybe not. Let's break down Carnage's sometimes bizarre comic book background and why death never really seems to stick with him. And in the process, we'll see why Carnage's return isn't just possible, but even necessary.

Cletus Kasady's Wild Ride

Few major characters in the Marvel Universe seem to stay dead forever, and that's certainly been true for Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote. That trend really began in 2000's Peter Parker: Spider-Man #13, where Venom reabsorbed the Carnage symbiote into his body and a distraught Kasady stooped to painting himself red in a vain attempt at reclaiming his lost power. Fortunately for him (if not the rest of the world), the last surviving traces of the symbiote were later able to guide Kasady into the Negative Zone to regenerate itself.

Later, in 2004's New Avengers #2, the reborn Carnage finally meets his match in The Sentry. This Superman-level hero drags Carnage into orbit and rips him in half, leaving the remains to either freeze in the vacuum of space or burn up in reentry. Only years later did fans learn the symbiote managed to stay alive and preserve Kasady's body (the upper half, at least).

This Darth Maul-style makeover would be just the first in a series of bizarre transformations for Carnage. The symbiote even bonded with other hosts, like Dr. Karl Malus and Norman Osborn, the latter rebranding himself "Red Goblin." Venom destroyed and reabsorbed carnage once again in the climax of 2019's Absolute Carnage, but by now we know it's just a matter of time until the character returns in some form or another.

That probably goes for the movie franchise as well. There's no reason Harrelson couldn't reprise the role in a future sequel. At the very least, the symbiote itself may live on even after the death of its host.

Let There Be Carnage establishes that the Carnage symbiote bonded with Kasady's blood, meaning that some trace of it could still linger within Kasady's decapitated corpse. What's to stop it from regenerating that missing head? Or the symbiote could still exist within Venom, waiting for the right opportunity to reassert its independence.

Detective Mulligan and Toxin

As we've already explored, the movie certainly seems to be setting up Stephen Graham's character Detective Mulligan for a major role in the inevitable Venom 3. Mulligan survives his run-in with Shriek and even shows signs that he's gained superhuman powers in the process.

As comic book readers probably know, Mulligan becomes the host of Toxin, the offspring of the Venom and Carnage symbiotes. Toxin is stronger than either symbiote parent, which compels both Venom and Carnage to seek out their "child." Venom hopes to train Toxin as his new partner, whereas Carnage merely wants to destroy what he sees as an enemy.

This alone suggests Carnage still has a big part to play in the Venom movies. Toxin is one of the few symbiote characters who actually qualifies as a hero, so Venom 3 would have to make some major changes to the source material in order to position Toxin as an antagonist. We have to assume a Toxin-centric movie would revolve around a similar dynamic, with venom seeing this new symbiote as an ally and a rejuvenated Carnage viewing him as a threat. And poor Mulligan will be caught in the middle.

All Roads Lead to Knull?

Marvel's most recent Venom series made some sweeping, ambitious changes to the symbiote mythology, in the process going a long way toward distancing Eddie Brock and his partner from the Spider-Man franchise. It's probably only a matter of time before the Venom movies start dabbling in that new mythology, and that could be another way of bringing Carnage back into the fold.

According to this new back-story, the symbiotes were created by Knull, an ancient god who existed in the void before the Big Bang. Ever since the light of creation interrupted his slumber, Knull has been hellbent on destroying all life and returning the universe to infinite nothingness. He's basically the god of the symbiotes.

As a nihilistic serial killer, Carnage is quite fond of Knull. Kasady is revealed to have briefly died at birth and communed with the symbiote god, with that experience helping to shape his disturbing worldview. Venom: Let There Be Carnage never dwells very long on the scribbles in Kasady's prison cell, but it's possible there are references to Knull hidden somewhere.

The aforementioned Absolute Carnage crossover revolves around Carnage's quest to kill every person who ever bonded with a symbiote and reabsorb the traces of the symbiote codex in their blood. Doing so will allow him to achieve his full power and finally commune with Knull again. Though Venom ultimately kills Carnage at the end of the story, he's too slow to stop Carnage from awakening Knull and luring the dark god to Earth. That's the foundation for the sequel, 2020's King in Black.

Regardless of how closely the Venom movies follow this source material, Knull is too big a villain not to include at some point. And you can't really get to Knull without Carnage paving the way in blood first.

Do you think we've seen the last of Carnage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And for more on the film, here's how to watch Venom 2. And get the scoop on Venom's release date dilemma while you're at it. Oh, and our Venom 2 WTF Questions is also worth a look!

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Get your bubbling cauldrons ready for winter as Koei Tecmo will release Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream in North America on February 25, 2022 for PlayStation 4, Steam, and Nintendo Switch.

This new entry in the Atelier series (which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year) is a sequel to Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, first released in Japan in 2015 but more recently ported to the Nintendo Switch.

You can check out an exclusive look at the introduction to the game below:

In her first adventure, young alchemist Sophie Neuenmuller ran her own business in the town of Kirchen Bell but struggled with her craft. She discovered a floating, talking book of alchemic recipes named Plactha. This book shared her extensive knowledge with Sophie in exchange for help in regaining her memories and original form. Sophie also partnered with non-book friends as she gathered materials for her alchemy and they collectively fought monsters in the wild using Sophie's handiwork. As players learned how to master the in-game alchemy systems, Sophie gained experience as an alchemist, gaining access to more complex creations.

For the upcoming sequel, Sophie and Plachta will continue their friendship and journey outside of Kirchen Bell to a new realm called Erde Weige. There she discovers a young alchemist also named Plachta, but this one doesn't seem to know Sophie at all. In Atelier Sophie 2's new world, up to six party members form two teams and battle monsters in "multi-linked turn-based battles". Switching from exploration to combat is now instant, with no more loading or transition screens between the two gameplay modes.

It's not all fighting though, as Sophie still needs to use her alchemy talents to combine materials into new substances. The panel synthesis system from the previous game will return, offering players a choice on how they wish to create their concoctions. Regular panels allow for easier creations, but "restricted" panels can produce stronger stuff — if players know how to use them.

The very first Atelier game debuted in May of 1997 exclusively in Japan, originally for the Sony PlayStation but later ported to many other consoles. Sequels and spinoffs followed soon after, but it took years before an Atelier game was officially localized. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, would be the first title to see an international release, but recently Koei Tecmo has taken a more global, multi-platform approach with the series (including releasing on Steam).

To celebrate the franchise's upcoming 25th anniversary, a website is already up to highlight the latest news surrounding the event. Koei Tecmo America is also offering a Limited Edition version of Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream exclusively through the NIS America online store, with an art book, deluxe fabric poster, keychain, bonus soundtrack CD, and an exclusive DLC costume.

Diamond Feit is a writer/podcaster in Osaka, Japan who uses Twitter & Twitch as feitclub.