Sun's out, James Gunn's out | What's the deal with Lex Luthor's pocket universe in James Gunn's 'Superman'? | How long would it take Superman to travel from Krypton to Earth?
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I have been waiting four months to use that title pun, so you better enjoy it.
Speaking of Mr Gunn, Superman has leapt into theaters to a positive reception, sitting at an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Unlike the serious and gritty Superman of Henry Cavill, this is a very comic-booky affair with characters like Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho — who your average moviegoer has never heard of — and lots of sci-fi jargon about pocket dimensions. Our nerdy writers have done their best to guide newcomers with some fantastic explainers, so check them out if you left the theater with more questions than answers.
We can't spend all day talking about Superman, though, because July is a jam-packed month for sci-fi. Fantastic Four: First Steps drops next Friday, and two mega sci-fi shows — Foundation and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — both debuted their third seasons this week. We've been chatting to the cast and crew of both, so check out the interviews below.
We also got the first movie trailer for the adaptation of Andy Weir's novel Project Hail Mary, which looks banging (if you'll excuse my Britishism for a second). If that name sounds familiar, it's because he's the guy who wrote The Martian, so he's basically sci-fi royalty. We sat down for a quick chat with Weir to get his impressions of the trailer, and even he was blown away.
Despite all the amazing sci-fi on the horizon, we also found time to gaze backwards at the staggering number of movie anniversaries that took place over the last month. Cocoon and Species both turned 30, and War of the Worlds hit the 20-year mark too. However, the biggest anniversary was something a little more grounded: Apollo 13 — the quintessential space movie — turned 30, and we spoke to NASA flight director Gerry Griffin about how the agency helped make it the most realistic space movie of all time, while also taking time to appreciate the "little guys" in mission control, too.
It's been a quiet month for space games, which suits me fine because I'm too preoccupied playing Blue Prince anyway. Plus, we've been busy checking out the funky mushroom blaster Mycopunk, and shooting the breeze with the Revenge of the Savage Planet director about the game's "playful" mockery of our corporate overlords and merciful lack of a meat planet.
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 Superman will punch you into space!
As James Gunn's Superman (2025) races into cinemas faster than a speeding bullet, we look at the planet that could have hosted his home world and why he might be older than he looks.
Robots take on a dangerous and world-consuming fungus in Mycopunk, a new co-op shooter set in outer space. We chatted to the developers about how the fungal menace was created.
'We had an idea for a meat planet' — Revenge of the Savage Planet game director Alex Hutchinson talks strange new worlds and mocking corporate spaceflight.
It's the end of the week and there's a lot of news happening today, starting with NASA's Chandra X-ray spacecraft watching as a distant, Jupiter-size exoplanet shrinks significantly.
In other headlines, NASA workers are planning a protest for July 20, 'Moon Day', to highlight the proposed budget cuts for the space agency, we dive into the background of Dr. Roger Korby on Star Trek's "Strange New Worlds" and Europe is working on a new hypersonic space plane by 2031.
We also have some entertainment recommendations for you as we head into the weekend. We have all that and more for your daily read.
"It's almost unfathomable to imagine what is happening to this planet. The planet's atmosphere simply cannot withstand the high X-ray dose it's receiving from its star."
It's a Friday and as we look forward to the weekend we wanted to share what the Space.com staff is reading, watching, and playing in case you need any recommendations.
In the fall we'll be kicking off a science fiction short story reading club, so stay tuned! But until then, enjoy the following staff recommendations.
Brett Tingley, Editor: "I've been enjoying Keith Cooper's new book 'Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact.' The book explores well-known planets from science fiction such as Tatooine from 'Star Wars' or Arrakis from 'Dune' with grounded commentary on real-world observations of similar exoplanets. A must-read for both exoplanet and sci-fi fans!"
Daisy Dobrijevic, Reference Editor: "I watched the first episode of the new series of the Great British Sewing Bee and it was lovely."
Vanessa Jewell, Social Media Editor: "I’ve been reading the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, currently on Dark Age. I love it! It’s very dark and gritty, but the world-building is so intricate, and I love how cohesive the story feels from one book to the next. I’m constantly being surprised by how ruthless of a writer Brown is. It feels like Game of Thrones in space; no one is safe!"
