The New York Times:

That people will travel to Mars, and soon, is a widely accepted conviction within NASA. The target date for the initial human mission has drifted slightly — in a 2018 report commissioned by Congress, NASA estimated that the first human beings would land on Mars “no later than the late 2020s” — but the certainty has not wavered, even if technical hurdles remain.

Rachel McCauley, until recently the acting deputy director of NASA’s Mars campaign, had, as of July, a punch list of 800 problems that must be solved before the first human mission launches. Many of these concern the mechanical difficulties of transporting people to a planet that is never closer than 33.9 million miles away; keeping them alive on poisonous soil in unbreathable air, bombarded by solar radiation and galactic cosmic rays, without access to immediate communication; and returning them safely to Earth, more than a year and half later. Many other problems involve technical details so arcane that McCauley wouldn’t even know how to begin explaining them to a well-intentioned journalist lacking an advanced engineering degree. But McCauley does not doubt that NASA will overcome these challenges.

What NASA does not yet know — what nobody can know — is whether humanity can overcome the psychological torment of Martian life.

Really thought provoking article, asking a question I know that I certainly hadn’t considered: how do we prepare mentally for Mars?

NASA has some ideas, so they’re undertaking a remarkable experiment to test them out. How are they doing it? What’s it like for those trying? Read on, dear reader. Read on.

Grist.org:

It’s a five-minute bike ride to the train station. On brisk mornings like this, I wear gloves and pack a warm coffee for the commute. My work buddy Lucy gets on two stops down, always with a pair of scones, wheeling her bike next to mine in the locker downstairs before joining me in the sunny coach section. Half an hour later, we unload the bikes and race each other along the greenway to our office. Twice a week, this; twice a week, we co-work from a cafe in the suburbs. The rest of the week is ours to enjoy.

A vision of a possible future from this Q&A with Kohei Santo, a leader in the “de-growth” movement. An enjoyable read of what we could have as a society.

It’s odd, as I get older, I’m getting more and more liberal and radical. Isn’t it supposed to go the other way?

Yuhki Danvers on Twitter:

5 months ago Patrick Harpin walked into Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Comics and pitched a Batman Beyond Animated Feature.

Before we pitched, they warned us "there is absolutely no way we can do a Beyond movie", but they loved our enthusiasm. We pitched the outline for the entire film, and what started as a “never” turned into a “maybe”.

In the time since, we've been pitching our way up the company hoping to get to James Gunn. But for now, here's a taste of what we've been cooking.

This tweet was posted earlier today, and has — subsequently — been viewed 2 million times during a time period where Twitter could not be more irrelevant.

I’ll back up the pitch art as shared, available in the gallery below (since who knows if Twitter will stay up), but I have to admit — since I’ve seen it, I haven’t been able to shake it.

A Spider-Verse-esq Batman Beyond movie would be incredible to see, and also give the theatrical version of the DC Comics Universe a much needed shot in the arm.

Mr. Gunn, are you listening?

The Hollywood Reporter:

Sam Mendes has teamed with Sony Pictures Entertainment for The Beatles, four theatrical films about the British supergroup to each come from the perspective of a different band member.

The project, coming over 50 years after The Beatles broke up, and 40 years after the death of John Lennon, will see Apple Corps and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – offer up their full life story and music rights for a scripted film. Mendes will direct the four theatrical feature films to recapture the story of the greatest band in history.

First and foremost, I’m surprised these four movies don’t all head into a singular united The Beatles movie.

Secondly, is the intent that we’d see one of these a year or all four at once?

I assume it’s going to be the same actors in each one of the four films — does this mean we’re going to get a Lord of the Rings-style back-to-back shoot?

With Mendes in the directors chair, the movies should be nice to look at, but I’m wondering if four films could make for a better singular film.

It’s gonna be funny to see if the Box Office reflects the popularity of each Beatle. Big splashes at the Box Office for Paul and John, with Ringo and George tanking the series.

Shit, will the Paul movie end with John appearing in the post-credits saying, “I’ve been thinking about forming a band…”

The Beatles quadrilogy is scheduled to hit theaters in 2027.

…and it looks like it’s coming true.

As revealed earlier today on social media, Marvel confirmed quite a few things about its forthcoming Fantastic Four movie, the first with the FF as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

First, it’s title, which is The Fantastic Four. Not to be confused with Fantastic Four or Fantastic 4.

Second, the cast, which features…

• Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) as Reed Richards
• Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon) as Sue Storm
• Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as Johnny Storm
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) as Ben Grimm / The Thing

And most cruically, based on the logo art and the promo image we’ve got here below…

IT’S A SIXTIES PERIOD PIECE

Now, I don’t know if this means that part of the movie is in the 1960’s, the whole thing is, or if Marvel just really likes the retro aesthetic, but the style combined with those costumes feels very 1960’s.

Ever since The Incredibles came out, my mind’s eye has had a vision of a perfect Fantastic Four movie, set in the era the original comics were made. This may not live up to my brain’s hopes, but goddamnit, it’s a start.

The Fantastic Four hits theaters on July 25, 2025.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg and 20th Century Studios are going hunting again.

Trachtenberg, who earned an Emmy nomination for his 2022 Predator movie Prey, is returning to the sci-fi action horror franchise to make a new installment.

Titled Badlands, the new Predator feature is not a sequel to Prey, which was set in 1719 and centered on a young Comanche woman forced to fight for survival against the intergalactic hunters, but rather a brand new story. Plot details are being kept secret but this one is said to be set sometime in the future. Like Prey, however, it too will feature a female lead.

If you’ve not had the chance to check out the absolutely tremendous Prey (available on Hulu), you’ve not allowed yourself to see the best Predator movie since…oh, the first one?

It’s amazing to see Dan Trachtenberg, who I once knew best as the host of a video podcast (shout out Totally Rad Show) not just step up the Cloverfield franchise, but also now the Predator franchise.

I am there day one.

[www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuXHrHRZzLk)

This is pretty freaking great, and a wonderful way to start a Friday.

(Nintendo, why aren’t your soundtracks on streaming? Lost money, gang.)