Author: Jeff Spry

The "Star Trek" franchise's 60th anniversary is coming straight at us warp speed and will be arriving on Sept. 8, 2026. "Trek" faithful from around the globe are expected to pause and salute this space fantasy institution created by Gene Roddenberry in whichever way they deem appropriate.

The celebration has already begun earlier this year at the 2026 Rose Parade and will accelerate past September and into the fall, where there’ll no doubt be 40th anniversary screenings of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" and 30th anniversary tributes to "Star Trek: First Contact" in November, amid a galaxy of other 'Trek'-centric events and retrospectives.

William Shatner's innumerable contributions to the "Star Trek" universe are as infinite as the heavens, and to add to the historic occasion’s festivities, he's co-executive produced a new documentary about the show's history and impact.

Titled "The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television And The World", the documentary will launch exclusively into Regal Cinemas beginning on Oct. 9, 2026.

Written and directed by Mark A. Altman ("Star Trek: The Fifty-Year Mission") in association with Michael S. Broder of Galaxie Pictures, "The Sixty-Year Mission" will focus on the rare combination of creative genius, epic struggles, personal conflicts, and indefatigable spirit that caused the cosmic tumblers to align and birth "Star Trek: The Original Series" in 1966.

"This film is a love letter to 'Star Trek,'" Altman told Deadline. "I’m immensely grateful to Regal to offer this gift to fans for the show’s 60th birthday. I'm confident that the film will appeal both to longtime fans of the franchise as well as new viewers who might be wondering what the unique alchemy of this pop culture icon is really about."

"The Sixty-Year Mission" burrows into the genesis of the seminal TV series that, against all odds, forever altered the landscape of small screen science fiction and ushered in a true classic.

It's brimming with archival footage and fresh insights from "The Original Series" luminaries William Shatner, Walter Koenig, and George Takei, as well as visits with Gene “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr., Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Ethan Peck, Robert Picardo, Christina Chong, and Denise Crosby.

“"We could not be more excited to partner with Regal to ensure that fans have a chance to see this remarkable film honoring the incredible 60-year legacy of 'Star Trek,'" adds Broder. "I am delighted to join forces with William Shatner and many of the franchise’s greatest stars and creatives to bring this film to theaters. And since every birthday deserves a party, we’ll be bringing key 'Star Trek' talent to theaters for exclusive Q&A’s."

Except for the two-part pilot, "The Menagerie," Shatner appeared as the USS Enterprise's Captain James T. Kirk in every one of "Star Trek: The Original Series"' 79 episodes over three seasons and forged a palpable bond with viewers that helped forge "Star Trek's" legacy. His involvement with this documentary at the age of 95 gives the project a definite luster.

"The Sixty-Year Mission" will dock in Regal theaters starting Oct. 9, 2026.

Filming a high-profile episodic TV series like "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is often a Herculean task for any professional cast and crew, but toss in massive spaceship sets, a colorful constellation of costume changes, tone and stylistic shifts, hand-to-hand combat, horseback riding, and puppets, and you’ve got a mad sci-fi circus.

We connected with Ethan Peck (Spock), Christina Chong (La’an Noonien-Singh) and Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk) for Paramount+’s "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'" penultimate season to hear more about the rigors of shooting, genre-hopping, and character evolution.

"Every season feels kind of manic," Peck tells Space. "Grind has such a negative connotation, but it really is a marathon. We lose so much sleep, we have crazy hours, we say crazy things, we even look crazy.

"But I’d say we really found our groove in season four because we’ve had all this experience with these characters. And the writers have had all this experience writing for these actors playing these characters. So we grow over time and become more comfortable. I think that's what allows us to pull off these crazy swings in season four and five, perhaps."

Chong echoes those thoughts and felt like leaping from one genre to the other was far more intense this time around than previous seasons.

"I was also taking horse riding lessons throughout, I was doing fight rehearsals, and then getting to see the digital mockups of our puppets," she shares. "Then we were thinking about how to approach the puppet episode and then obviously the horror of it all. It was a lot of jumping around because of the big genre swings.

"Every season has been incredible so far, and I think this was really upping the stakes. For horse riding, I’ve ridden once before for a show, but it was ten years ago, so it was like starting from scratch again. But we had plenty of time to rehearse. And I absolutely loved my puppet; I thought she was brilliant."

For Wesley, being able to stretch his performance skills by portraying the legendary spacefaring hero and exploring his transcendent connection to Spock has been an immensely rewarding challenge.

"The writers are very good at identifying our strengths and identifying what dialog would suit us, not as our characters but also as actors," he notes. "Having been on the show now for two seasons, I think the writers really were able to give me the ability to play a variety of things like comedy and horror.

"These big swings carry a lot of risk, and what’s so brilliant about this show is that they somehow pull it off," continues Wesley. "It all works. Kudos to the writers, and I'm just really excited for the audience to experience the evolution of Kirk becoming the man they know he’ll be eventually.

"You know these characters as having one of the most iconic friendships on television, but you don’t really know how they met and what brought them there. In the shore leave episode, you get to see Spock express his vulnerabilities inadvertently to Kirk, and they will, in turn, allow them to become closer. These little things are so important because they begin to establish why these characters are so connected in 'TOS.'"

Peck instinctively recognizes that these episodes do a fantastic job of slowly and naturally helping Kirk and Spock build trust with one another.

"It's a great joy and privilege to be able to convey this relationship because it is so iconic," Peck reveals. "And that’s so strange as an actor, to be filling in some of this missing history for these characters that have been around for so long and that were so beautifully performed by other actors before us."

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 4 is currently streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes arriving each Thursday through the finale episode on Sept. 24, 2026.

Despite our love for little "Baby Yoda", "The Mandalorian and Grogu" wasn't the thrilling "Star Wars" feature film to drag fans back to theaters when it dropped back in May. It wasn't bad, but it felt more like a TV special than a cinematic event.

But now the $166 million space opera — recruited from the Disney+ series that ran for three seasons from 2019-2023 — is now about to enter Earth orbit and finally land in the streaming sphere when it hits Disney+ starting Sept. 2, 2026. Will this be the way?

Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal as the laconic bounty hunter clad in his stylish Beskar armor and also featuring that pint-sized alien dynamo formally known as Baby Yoda, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" was the first big-screen "Star Wars" movie in seven years since 2019's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

Could the underperforming spinoff film become a surprise hit with general streaming audiences since that's where the characters were born, or has the dynamic duo's time come and gone?

"The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy," states the official synopsis. "As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu."

While some fans would have potentially welcomed a fourth season of "The Mandalorian" — which is where this cobbled-together feature was derived from — the majority of disgruntled "Star Wars" acolytes were still wincing from the series' lackluster third outing (yes, we're staring at you, Jack Black and Lizzo!).

As they say, time heals all wounds, and despite disappointing reviews and fan reactions, the movie did manage to scrape together $345 million worldwide. Now that it's coming back to its streaming home, perhaps all will be forgiven? We're certainly willing to give it another shot or a fair first screening. How about you?

Also starring Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" steers its way back onto Disney+ beginning on Sept. 2, 2026.

Ringed worlds seem to be a fertile source of science fiction material, whether it be in sci-fi master Larry Niven's circular alien constructs in his "Ringworld" novels, the spherical megastructures of "Halo's" video game universe — which just launched its "Campaign Evolved" remake of the original game for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 28 — or the ringed orbital habitat for the ultra-rich depicted in director Neill Blomkamp's 2013 sci-fi flick, "Elysium."

Leave it to the funny folks at Hulu's "Futurama" to tap into that popular trope in the latest episode titled "Lords of the Ring," where the Planet Express crew crash-lands on a strange world whose shape resembles a colossal space ring.

This weird location is inhabited entirely by super-smart rats, and it's not long before Fry, Leela, Amy, Bender, Hermes, Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth are embroiled in a mission to figure out how this all came to be. "Futurama" Season 14 just blasted off Aug. 3, so there's plenty of time to catch up with the zany far-future antics.

"'Lords of the Ring' is absolutely loaded up with references and inspirations from classic sci-fi, even by our standards," showrunner David X. Cohen tells Space. "To begin with, the setting of the episode is a massive 'space ring' that creates its own artificial gravity as it rotates. I am a huge fan of space rings.

"The classic influence, of course, is the novel 'Ringworld' by Larry Niven, often cited as a prime example of the 'Big Dumb Object' genre of science fiction. It's a very memorable book, but the part you remember is the ring. If you have to pick one or the other, I'd recommend the 'Futurama' episode for more action."

Another influential ring for series executive producer Cohen, and a particular favorite of episode writer Bill Odenkirk, is the elegant orbiting space station seen in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" from 1968.

"I think in our earliest discussion of the episode he proposed something more like that, but it evolved as we pitched out the story from a small orbiting ring into a medium-sized big dumb space ring," he adds. "I need to mention that both Bill and I played a lot of 'Halo' back in the early 'Futurama' days and that surely lurked in the back of our minds.

"Aside from rings, the episode draws influence from 'Planet of the Apes.' If not for the whole ring aspect, we could have called it 'Planet of the Rats.' Several aspects of the episode, including the idea of forbidden ancient relics and the non-human mammal civilization, take inspiration from 'Planet of the Apes.' I guess it's an example of convergent evolution… all mammals in science fiction eventually evolve to run their own terrifying Planet-of-the-Whatever. And lastly... I'll mention there are some Easter-Egg references to the classic 'Rats of NIMH.' Keep an eye out!"

Spectacular visuals presented in this seriously geeky episode are another standout for Cohen, who claims it's one of his favorites of the new season.

"The director, Crystal Chesney Thompson, actually had pet rats, and she really brought this insane world to life," he notes. "The rat acting as they switch between animal and human behaviors is hilarious, the ring itself is one of the most glorious things ever seen in the series, and the stylized section depicting the mysterious backstory of the ring world is a classic. I hope our nerding out over the details comes through!"

"Futurama" Season 14 currently airs on Hulu, with new episodes arriving each Monday through Sept. 28, 2026. "Lords of the Ring" aired on August 17, so it's available to watch right now.

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night… Come on, you know the rest!

DC Comics' Green Lantern Corps. spans the infinite boundaries of the cosmos with its legion of 7,204 intergalactic space cops representing all races, genders, and biological entities patrolling thousands of Guardian sectors of the universe.

The fabled interstellar law enforcement society based on the planet Oa, armed with the coolest oath ever recited, is getting its own gritty, grounded "Lanterns" TV series and fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their intrepid emerald ring-wearing heroes capable of manifesting an incredible arsenal of colorful mental constructs.

Specific plot elements remain secretive and we're unsure which side of morality we’ll ultimately find Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his upstart John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) .

Power up and let's parade into all the details of how to watch HBO's "Lanterns!"

When Is The "Lanterns' Release Date?

"Lanterns" streaks into our galactic sector for its 8-episode debut on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026 at 9 p.m. ET and PT.

Subsequent green-tinted chapters will manifest themselves each Sunday night until its season finale arrives on Oct. 4, 2026.

How To Watch "Lanterns"

"Lanterns" will be available to view exclusively for HBO cable TV subscribers and will also stream simultaneously on HBO Max for its customers.

If you want to check out "Lanterns" or any of the other great shows on HBO and HBO Max while you're abroad, you can also use a VPN to access your subscription from anywhere in the world.

Sorry, but it doesn’t work so well if you just happen to find yourself anywhere outside Space Sector 2814.

What is the plot of "Lanterns?"

This edgy, modern day Green Lantern makeover is infused with hardboiled detective overtones that finds veteran galactic peacekeeper Hal Jordan teaming up with a fresh new protégé, John Stewart, as they investigate a series of strange homicides in America’s midwestern heartland.

There’s a fun mentor/mentee relationship at the forefront that reveals the truth of Hal not really training a new recruit, but grooming a replacement.

Don’t think "Lanterns" is purely Earthbound though, as there’s plenty of alien invasion action with eerie shape-shifting Manhunters marauding in Nebraska and some spooky space action on a remote prison planet where the devilish Sinestro is incarcerated.

Its original lore began back during the Golden Age of Comics in the pages of 1940's "All-American Comics #16" with the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, before vaulting into his own series in 1941.

Over the decades, some of the greatest comic book stories have been centered around this imposing force. Of special note are Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ moving "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" run (1970-1972) and Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp's psychedelic epic, "The Green Lantern: Intergalactic Lawman" (2018-2021).

Are There Any "Lanterns" Teasers and Trailers?

You bet your kiloton of Kilowog there are!

An underwhelming and nearly green-less teaser first dropped back in March to the enormous groans of Green Lantern faithful everywhere. That was followed by an impressive July trailer that had us all gasping at the influx of green, causing us to deliver a collective sigh of relief.

We saw a multitude of cool constructs, weapons and forcefields emanating from that prized emerald-cast jewelry, a few glimpses of the iconic Green Lantern supersuits, some tall morphing extraterrestrials and the red-skinned Sinestro in a cosmic jail.

This week as a special treat, HBO release the first five minutes of the premiere episode that looks fantastic and reveals a much younger Hal Jordan being interviewed in 1996 and John Stewart's abusive family backstory involving a gun and an apple!

Who Are "Lanterns"' cast and creators?

Besides our gallant space patrol stars Chandler and Pierre, "Lanterns"' eclectic cast also includes Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Laura Linney, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson and Jasmine Cephas Jones.

Chris Mundy ("True Detective: Night Country") serves as "Lanterns"' showrunner, executive producer, and co-writer. It's penned in collaboration with Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "Watchmen") and seasoned comic book wordsmith Tom King ("Supergirl"). Directors for the 8 episodes include James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov. Based on the flagship DC Comics characters, "Lanterns" alights from HBO, Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios.

Will There Be A "Lanterns" Season 2?

Although no formal announcement has been made by HBO or Warner Bros. Television as of this writing, it seems very likely there will be a "Lanterns" season 2.

The writers room has already been staffed and is currently mapping out a sophomore outing led by screenwriter and comic book aficionado Christopher Cantwell ("Halt and Catch Fire"). Damon Lindelof won’t return as a co-writer for season 2.

Season 4 of Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is off to a roaring start with episodes already airing centered around primeval dinosaurs, a haunted starship, and a hedonistic pleasure planet.

This week's chapter, titled "A Case of Chiaroscuro", airs on Aug. 13 and takes another bold swing, featuring a wartime film noir-style tale with tense galactic politics at its core.

We connected with three of "Strange New Worlds'" brightest stars — Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Rebecca Romijn (Lt. Cmdr Una Chin-Riley), and Carol Kane (Commander Pelia) — to hear about this penultimate season's boundary-pushing vision delivered by executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, and learn more about that Muppet episode called “Level-Five Transporter Accident” that's coming later this month on Aug. 20.

"We're all in agreement that season 4 and season 5 are the strongest seasons of the whole series," Romijn tells Space. "I think the producers had more time to prepare for season 4, and every episode felt incredible on the page. Every episode felt like a really fun challenge. We just had a blast.

"The writers think so outside the box, and I can't believe they come up with the things they come up with," continues Romijn. "Every time a writer asks, 'What haven’t you done that you’d like to do?' I can't even think as outside the box as our writers. I leave it up to them."

Mount echoes those sentiments and finds the sci-fi series to be fully engaged.

"It just feels like the bolts were tight," Mount adds. "We've built this incredible machine and we were able to take bigger leaps and have more fun. Even curve balls that came in season 1 and season 2. I grew tired of going to Akiva and Henry and saying, 'Are you sure about this?' And then those ended up being the episodes that really pop. So I stopped asking questions and trusted them. Also, I think the sense of consequence was heightened at the same time."

Even though Carol Kane's ancient Lanthanite character, Pelia, didn't arrive until the second season, even she senses a major shift in the show's momentum.

"I feel like as we went on people were more and more willing to take risks at every level, from the writing to the acting to the cinematography to the directing and the wardrobe," Kane notes. "It was like, what the hell. Let's roll them dice. I feel that was a wonderful freedom."

As fans eagerly anticipate the Muppet episode (they won’t be disappointed!), the trio all admitted that the Pelia puppet with its wild tangle of blonde hair was the one most of the cast wanted to take home with them.

Sadly, none of the actors were allowed to actually keep their Muppets, though if folks saw the price tag on those puppets they’d quickly understand why.

"We were already working on another episode," Mount explains when the surreal time arrived to record their particular puppets' dialogue. "It was really wild going into the recording booth and trying to do an interpretation of someone else’s interpretation of your character."

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 4 is now streaming on Paramount+.

It's always the way, you wait 40,000 years for a Warhammer series from Amazon Prime Video, and then two come along at once.

Spinning off of Prime Video's animated video game-based anthology, "Secret Level," a new "Warhammer 40,000" animated series is marching down the creative pipeline. This spin-off series is spawned from "Secret Level's" "Warhammer 40,000" episode titled "And They Shall Know No Fear," which debuted in December of 2024.

The show doesn't have a name yet, but we know it's coming courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, Blur Studios, and the miniature wargame's British parent company, Games Workshop.

Hollywood megastar and king of the nerds, Henry Cavill ("The Witcher"), has signed on to executive produce, alongside his role on the previously announced live-action "Warhammer 40,000" series in development at Amazon MGM Studios, which is coming from prolific writer/producer Mike Flanagan ("Midnight Mass," "Carrie").

We don't know much about the plot at this time, other than that it will focus on the Deathwatch, who are a group of intimidating cybernetically enhanced Space Marines who are particularly adept at slaying nasty extraterrestrial xenos.

Dave Wilson directed the original short, and he's signed on again here as co-creator and director, with John Orloff ("Masters of the Air," "Band of Brothers") aiding in the development process.

"Secret Level" creator Tim Miller ("Love, Death + Robots") serves as executive producer with Dave Wilson for Blur Studios, alongside Cavill and Natalie Viscuso. Joining them are Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and Games Workshop's Andy Smillie.

"'Secret Level' wasn’t conceived simply as an anthology. It was designed as a launchpad for larger stories," said Wilson in a statement. "The response to the 'Warhammer' episode was extraordinary, particularly from fans who understood how much care went into getting the world right. This series gives us the opportunity to build on that foundation and tell a much larger story. I've wanted to tell a long-form story set in 'Warhammer 40,000' for more than twenty years, and I'm incredibly grateful to Games Workshop and Amazon MGM Studios for the opportunity to do it."

Prime Video is knee-deep in gaming adaptations with its acclaimed "Fallout" series and a "Tomb Raider" show starring "Game of Thrones"' Sophie Turner on the roster. Amazon MGM Studios is also hard at work on an epic "God of War" project, with "Guardians of the Galaxy's" Dave Bautista currently topping the list to portray Kratos after Ryan Hurst left the production due to an injury.

No specific release date was unveiled for "Warhammer 40,000's" animated event series, but we’ll keep you briefed on any major details in the coming months!

You might think you're done with the multiverse, but the multiverse is not done with you, as Apple TV preps the next season of its mind-bending sci-fi series, "Dark Matter."

Adapted from New York Times bestselling novelist Blake Crouch's 2016 novel of the same name, "Dark Matter" is another stellar series from the streaming platform that's become the go-to destination for premium science fiction content with hit shows "Foundation," "Silo," "For All Mankind," "Star City," "Invasion," "Pluribus," "Severance," and "Murderbot."

The debut season in 2024 took audiences into a reality-warping nightmare, and season 2 kicks things into a darker dimension when it rolls out on Aug. 28, 2026.

Season 1 found Joel Edgerton ("Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," "Zero Dark 30," "Train Dreams") portraying Jason Dessen, a quantum physicist who gets sucked into an alternate reality and must struggle to prevent his second self from hijacking his life and family. Season 2 sees the Dessen family jolted out of their safe, quiet life once again when an unimaginable threat forces them to run once again.

"As Jason's obsession with the Box deepens, Daniela's growing paranoia pushes her to the brink, threatening to tear their fragile stability apart," reveals the synopsis. "Elsewhere, Amanda and Ryan join forces in a desperate attempt to find their way home. With Blair determined to stop him, while Leighton relentlessly chases his grand vision of creating a perfect world."

Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly ("The Rocketeer," "A Beautiful Mind") plays his prime world wife, Daniela, and Alice Braga takes on the role of Amanda Lucas, Dessen’s girlfriend in the shifted universe. Crouch ("Wayward Pines," "Recursion," "Upgrade") again serves as "Dark Matter's" showrunner and executive producer, where he steers the first-class production with a steady, capable hand beyond the book's storyline for its sophomore season. He'll share executive producing duties alongside Joel Edgerton, Jakob Verbruggen, Don Kurt, David Manpearl, and Matt Tolmach.

"Dark Matter's first season was an engaging and underappreciated sci-fi series that should satiate fans of sci-fi shows like "Fringe," "The Man in the High Castle," "Black Mirror," and even "Rick and Morty." We can't wait for season 2.

Speaking of which, starring Jimmi Simpson, Dayo Okeniyi, Oakes Fegley and Amanda Brugel, "Dark Matter" season 2 appears on Apple TV for a fresh 10-episode outing on Aug. 28, 2026.