Mr Worf… fire! | 'Predator: Killer of Killers' is a battle across history that doesn't dwell on the franchise's past | 'Nerds are cool' — Pixar's 'Elio' is a powerful story of finding yourself amongst the stars (interview)
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Last year might have been the Brat summer, but in 2025 we're having a sci-fi summer. June kicked things off at two wildly different ends of the sci-fi spectrum, with Pixar's heartwarming space adventure Elio and Hulu's brutal Predator anthology series Killer of Killers.
We also got the… divisive? Yes, let's say a divisive finale to Doctor Who season 2, which saw Ncuti Gatwa's incarnation of the Time Lord shockingly regenerate into a very familiar face. What's going on there? I have no idea, and I suspect the writers don't either, but with the series' future up in the air, we'll have to wait a while to find out.
Next month sees the return of a classic cinematic event: the dueling summer blockbusters, as both James Gunn's Superman and the MCU's Fantastic Four: First Steps hit theaters. From the looks of the trailers, both are shaping up nicely, but if history has taught us anything, it's that the smart man never bets on a Fantastic Four movie being good. What will almost certainly be excellent is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, which also drops in July, and we can't wait! Neither can Paramount, which has announced both seasons 4 and 5 before this season has even aired. Slow down, guys.
Summer Game Fest was also this month, and like the big sci-fi nerds that we are, we rounded up every space and sci-fi-themed game announced at the showcases. The Outer Worlds 2 is the headline act, taking us back to Obsidian's thinly-veiled mockery of our corporate space travel future when it launches in October, but there were plenty of other surprises in there, including Aphelion, which is being made in collaboration with ESA. We also did a deep dive into the history of Star Citizen, and yep, it's still not out. Anyone want to take odds on which happens first: Star Citizen releasing vs. landing a person on Mars?
If this is all sounding a bit too newfangled for your liking, have no fear — the warm blanket of nostalgia is here with some big anniversaries coming up. 'The Best of Both Worlds', aka one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever made, turned 35 this month. Once you've stopped reeling from the wave of "oh god, I'm so old" that just washed over you, check out our retrospective looking back at what made it such a great cliffhanger.
Underappreciated animated flick Titan A.E. also turned 25 recently, and we think it's aged like a fine wine. Wrapping things up, we also gazed back upon another one of those dueling summer blockbusters moments from history, when Mission to Mars took on Red Planet. Those two have aged more like warm yoghurt, but it's a fascinating moment in sci-fi history nonetheless.
Check out all those great articles and more by clicking the links below, and enjoy your first summer weekend of the year!
See you out there,
Ian Stokes, Entertainment Editor, Space
P.S. Got any feedback for us? Drop us an email at community@space.com. Be nice, or the Borg will assimilate you.
We spoke to "Elio" stars Zoe SaldaΓ±a, Yonas Kibreab, and Brad Garrett, alongside co-directors Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, about finding the heart and humanity in sci-fi stories.
As Star Citizen approaches a billion dollars in funding and with no full release date in sight, we take a look at its history and the current state of this ambitious space epic.
11 bit studios' sci-fi adventure makes you team leader and asks you to balance base-building, survival, branching narratives, and keeping your team motivated.
Another summer, another series of hot gaming showcases. These are the space and sci-fi video games that caught our attention during this year's events.
It's Kenna again with your latest space news and science headlines. Happy Friday!
It's been a busy day for astronomers and entrepreneurs alike. From SpaceX's Starship exploding in Texas during preparations for its 10th flight to seeing exoplanets forming in crushingly harsh conditions to solar flares knocking out radio communications in the Pacific, there's lots happening. We've got the latest for you here and more.
Thanks for exploring with us. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
After the sun arrives at its solstice point, it will begin to migrate back toward the south and the amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere will begin to decrease.
