News The Odyssey The Odyssey Trailer Is Visually Dull but Full of Promise Odysseus’ journey will see him battle the elements, monsters, and bad YouTube uploads By Matthew Byrd | Published on December 22, 2025 Photo: Universal Pictures Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Universal Pictures We’ve all been wondering what Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey will look like. One of our great epic film directors is adapting one of the great literary epics with help from a massive budget, IMAX cameras, and a stacked cast? They’ll have to kick us out of the theater, because we are already seated. Well, we finally got a proper trailer for The Odyssey and, to tell you the truth, it’s still hard to tell what Christopher Nolan’s movie looks like. To be very fair, it seems like something may have gone wrong when uploading this trailer to YouTube. It is incredibly blurry and dark even when viewed on the highest allowed YouTube resolution (which, for some reason, is limited to 1080p, at least for free users). This is seemingly not the ideal way to view this preview, so all comments about its looks have to be taken with that grain of salt. That said, Nolan may not be beating certain allegations anytime soon. Production photos of The Odyssey have been criticized in some circles for their lack of color and generally dull designs. The same criticisms could certainly be applied to this trailer, even if we only get the briefest glimpses of some of the movie’s potentially grander sequences. There are lovely shots spread throughout, though they are spread somewhat thin among other, simply serviceable glimpses of fairly mundane moments. The night scenes in particular are pretty rough, though it’s worth noting again that YouTube could be a co-conspirator for that particular crime. Still, the style debate will continue. That said, there is a lot to love here. The storm sequence, in particular, looks appropriately horrifying, as do the shots of the soldiers cowering in fear in a desperate attempt to avoid what appears to be a massive sword. Ludwig Göransson’s score is simply magical, and the sheer wattage of star power fueling this thing remains impressive. Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth…hell, Lupita Nyong’o is in this movie, and we don’t even know her role yet. Perhaps most importantly, this is still The Odyssey we’re talking about. Reasonable concerns about what certainly seems to be a dark, dour, and dude-driven take on that story aside, The Odyssey remains both an incredible collection of potentially cinematic moments and a story that has rarely received a direct adaptation, much less one on this scale. We’ll all find out if The Odyssey lives up to that potential when the movie is released on July 17, 2026. [end-mark] The post <i>The Odyssey</i> Trailer Is Visually Dull but Full of Promise appeared first on Reactor.

News Man of Tomorrow Lars Eidinger Cast as Brainiac in Man of Tomorrow, But Which Version of the Villain Will the Superman Movie Use? There are many Brainiacs, and not all are created equally By Matthew Byrd | Published on December 22, 2025 Photo: DC Comics Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: DC Comics In a statement on Twitter (or X, or whatever), James Gunn confirmed that Lars Eidinger will play Brainiac in the upcoming sequel to his 2025 Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow. James Gunn has strongly hinted (to say the least) that Brainiac will be the villain in Man of Tomorrow and that his arrival will force Superman and Lex Luthor to form an unlikely alliance. So far as that goes, this announcement does not come as a surprise. The decision to cast Lars Eidinger is a bit more surprising. It’s not fair to call Lars Eidinger an unknown (he’s made quite a name for himself on-stage and in the films of director Olivier Assayas), but this is certainly not the big splashy casting announcement that some suspected Gunn might prioritize for such a major villainous role. The casting is potentially quite good, and it will certainly be nice to see a Superman movie villain that isn’t General Zod or Lex Luthor. Actually, those who really only casually follow Superman via the movies probably have little idea who Brainiac is. He was reportedly considered for the villain role in Superman III way back in the day, but he rarely makes multimedia appearances despite being a major player in the comics. In fact, Brainiac has appeared in so many Superman comics in so many different forms that it’s tough to say which version of Brainiac we’ll see in Man of Tomorrow. While aspects of the character often remain the same (most notably, he’s incredibly intelligent, which allows him to create incredible devices and wield mental powers), Brainiac has been remarkably inconsistent for such a major character in the Superman mythos. Will we get the Silver Age Brainiac who was depicted as a green alien from the planet Colu who largely did his evil bidding through incredible devices such as a shrink ray? It’s…not likely. There is a charm to that character’s looks and methods that do fit into Gunn’s visual and directorial style, but Brainiac didn’t really come into his own until later. Still, there are elements of this version of the character (such as his love of shrinking and the more alien aspects of his appearance) that could be used in Man of Tomorrow. Will we get the Brainiac that uploaded his consciousness into a metal skeleton exoframe to achieve a more Terminator-like look? Probably not. That version of the character boasts an incredible design and was featured in some memorable storylines, but he’s pretty far removed from the more iconic elements of the Brainiac concept. It would be another big swing to bring that version of the character to the big screen first. Will we see the version of Brainiac that was actually an advanced AI program used by Jor-El (and other Kryptonians) like the Brainiac featured in Superman: The Animated Series? That is far more likely. Not only would such a villain allow Man of Tomorrow to comment on the evils of AI (a popular film villain trend at the moment), but tying Brainiac into the destruction of Krypton would make his rivalry with Superman (and possibly Supergirl) pleasantly personal. However, it’s far more likely that the Man of Tomorrow Brainiac will be closer to modern, rebooted versions of the character in the comics, which are really an amalgamation of previous Brainiac concepts. Specifically, all eyes are currently on the “House of Brainiac” version of the character. In that story, Brainiac is really the representative of a collective of networked iterations spread across the universe. He uses his galactic powers to launch an assault on Earth. Not only does that arc include Lex Luthor and Superman teaming up to fight Brainiac (something we know will happen in Man of Tomorrow), but it features Supergirl villain/antihero Lobo in a starring role. I doubt that Man of Tomorrow will be a straight adaptation of “House of Brainiac” or that version of the Brainiac character (the latter, in particular, will probably be presented in a slightly more iconic physical form), but that storyline certainly seems to have the most elements that fit into what Gunn is currently doing with Superman and the greater DC mythos. Ultimately, we’re going to have to wait a while to see more of Lars Eidinger’s Brainiac. Man of Tomorrow isn’t scheduled to be released until July 9, 2027, so unless Brainiac appears in Supergirl or unless we get a surprise sneak peek at the character elsewhere, we’ll all just have to wonder which of the nearly infinite Brainiacs in the universe we’ll ultimately get. [end-mark] The post Lars Eidinger Cast as Brainiac in <i>Man of Tomorrow</i>, But Which Version of the Villain Will the <i>Superman</i> Movie Use? appeared first on Reactor.

Movies & TV Stranger Things The Best Moments of Stranger Things As the series comes to a close, a look back on some of the show’s greatest hits. By Tyler Dean | Published on December 22, 2025 Credit: Netflix Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Netflix As I said in my recap of season four, Stranger Things is at its best as an in-the-moment watch. It struggles to keep a coherent tone and build compelling character arcs, but excels at crafting individual scenes that elicit tears or screams or shouts of joy.  Below is my personal list of favorite moments from the show up through the end of season five, episode four. They are a mix of big moments, quiet scenes of character development, and weird little detours that have kept me engaged even at the lower points in the show’s tumultuous nine-year run. Joyce Plays With Magnets Image: Netflix (Season 3, Episode 5 “The Flayed”) After giving her the iconic Christmas Light set to play with in the first season, letting her play around with an old camcorder in the second and, perhaps, after seeing her brilliant cascade of facial expressions at the 2017 SAG Awards, the Duffer brothers gave her an enduring puzzle with malfunctioning magnets in season three. There is a lot of good, profoundly weird mugging as a wide-eyed Ryder single-mindedly stares at magnets throughout the first half of the season. This comes to a head in episode five, where she tries to ask lovable Russian operative, Alexei, if the demagnetization is due to his countrymen’s operation. As the subtitles tell us that Alexei understands next to nothing about what Joyce is asking, Ryder babbles excitably, reframing her paranoid and desperate performance, in previous seasons, as something winningly batshit. A scene later, Hopper implies that Joyce is as unhinged as Murray and her performance sells it. Ryder started as the series’ biggest get and while she was tasked with carrying a lot of the show’s dramatic heft in seasons one and two, season three lets Joyce be as funny and weird as Ryder seems to be. It’s great! Magnets! Murray Plays Matchmaker  Image: Netflix (Season 2, Episode 6 “The Spy”) The first two seasons take their time getting their star-crossed teen couple, Nancy and Jonathan, together. Given how much Nancy’s previous beau, Steve Harrington, became a breakout favorite of the first season who ended up becoming more beloved than either of the other vertices of the love triangle, keeping the momentum alive was more difficult than anticipated. They spend most of season two on a road trip, investigating how they can expose the Hawkins Lab as the responsible parties in the death of Barb. This eventually leads them to conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman who gives them a strategy to take down the USDoE. But his major contribution is a leery, grotesque calling out of the sexual tension between Nancy and Jonathan. Brett Gelman, whether it’s in Fleabag or Another Period, always succeeds at playing profoundly sleazy men with the sort of wry verve that lets you know they are (mostly) harmless.  Here, his particular brand of ick is applied to plying teenagers with alcohol, demanding they admit they have feelings for one another and calling attention to how much better the sleeping arrangements would be if they shared a bed. It undercuts the seriousness of the Nancy/Jonathan love story in the best way and Murray is the perfect vessel for reminding audiences that the climax of your big love story doesn’t always have to be maudlin and sincere. Eddie and Chrissy  Image: Netflix (Season 4, Episode 1 “The Hellfire Club”) Eddie Munson and Chrissy have a remarkable chemistry across a few scenes in the season four premiere. While we discover that it’s all just a set up for Chrissy’s death at episode’s end, there is a brief window when the show entertains the idea that all the high school cliques are nonsense (it otherwise demands fairly strict allegiance to the norm—see Dustin’s speech about how Erica is a nerd in season three, episode six). But more than that, it’s a great showcase for two actors to display something that feels surprisingly genuine. It’s a fitting homage to all the great John Hughes mismatched romances of the 80s—The Breakfast Club and Some Kind of Wonderful chief among them—with the burnout and the cheerleader discovering that they have more in common than they thought they did. It’s a shame that the show wasn’t particularly interested in exploring this dynamic because it cements Eddie and Chrissy as instant classics and likely went a long way towards cementing Joseph Quinn’s career. Joyce’s Lights Image: Netflix (Season 1, Episode 3 “Holly Jolly”) The image of Joyce Byers communicating with Will through an alphabet of Christmas lights strung up on her living room wall is as iconic a metonymy for the whole of Stranger Things as anything. But it’s easy to forget that it’s undergirded by real senses of menace and wonder and anchored by Winona Ryder’s excellent portrayal of desperation and grief. The turn from a glimmer of hope in Joyce finally making contact with Will to horror as he lights up “RUN” and a demogorgon tears through the wall, more grotesque and pallid than we’ve seen thus far in the show, is the cherry on top of the sundae. Harrington Pool Party Image: Netflix (Season 1, Episode 2 “The Weirdo on Maple Street”) Early in its run, Stranger Things felt like it was angling for something more akin to prestige TV. The weekday party at Steve Harrington’s place, with “Melt With You” playing on the radio, Aqua vapor rising off the surface of the water while Nancy, Barb, and their questionable new acquaintances shotgun beers and Jonathan, half in a trance, photographs them from the nearby woods, feels like something more compelling than mere homage or reference (though it is both of those things).  The vaporwave aesthetic that the show cultivates isn’t really a thing of the ‘80s (even if it has its roots in bands like Goblin and Tangerine Dream), but it so evokes that New Wave, synth-heavy yearning that it’s a perfect fit for an ‘80s nostalgia show. And this slice of life recreation of the mythical past that the show is obsessed with is among its finest encapsulations. Will the Warlock  Image: Netflix (Season 5, Episode 4 “Sorcerer”) Okay the internet has made this point over and over and it is, ultimately, a bit of semantic nonsense, but this is a hill I am willing to die on. Will is not a Sorcerer (as Mike dubs him in the most recent episode). Sorcerers, in Dungeons & Dragons, are magic users whose powers come from their genetic heritage or magical intervention in their ancestry. A Warlock is a magic user whose magic powers come from a pact made with a powerful being (like a devil or a genie). Clearly, Will is a Warlock with Vecna as his patron (Warlock pacts don’t need to be consensual). And, given that both Sorcerers and Warlocks as DnD classes postdate the era in which Stranger Things takes place (by more than twenty years in both cases), I feel comfortable saying that, given the choice between anachronisms, go with the one that actually makes sense. That said, the moment in which Will comes into his psychokinetic powers is one of the series’ most transcendent moments. It is the culmination of a personal arc that has been playing out since at least the second season. It’s unclear if the Duffers planned Will’s sexuality from the start but it has been central to his character since season three and largely mishandled (the show leans into a child molestation lens for the ways in which Will is traumatized; you can read my season three review for a more in depth analysis of it). But season five largely redeemed this arc, pairing Will with Robin, its other queer character, and reframing what makes being queer worthwhile away from finding romantic love, and refocusing on self-care. In that regard, the Duffers find some thematic resonance with sorcery (you are already awesome because it’s intrinsic to you, not because you studied for it—and I understand that they want to hammer home the point that gay people are born not made, especially since they already unfortunately paired coming out with molestation) but the reason this moment—Will, eyes rolled back, arms outstretched, breaking demogorgon limbs in the exact way Vecna tortured his victims in the previous season—hit so hard is that it’s the culmination of Will’s relationship to trauma. Whether that’s the trauma of being kidnapped by Vecna or the trauma of enduring ongoing homophobic bullying (both from his father and kids at school), it has made him more than a weak-link (a spy for the Mindflayer as he is called in season two). It’s made him resilient and powerful. Yes, absolutely, being queer is a quality in need of celebration (especially for a rural midwestern kid in the AIDS-stricken landscape of the mid-80s) but what the show has really demonstrated and demonstrates well is that surviving trauma can make you something more powerful than you thought. Will has psychic powers because he endured Vecna’s abuse and came out the other side. In that way, he embodies a DnD Warlock and the show has something much more interesting and important to say about what it means to be a survivor (especially a queer one) than what they draw out of Robin’s advice.  Snow Ball  Image: Netflix (Season 2, Episode 9 “The Gate”) There’s a lot of climactic fun minutes earlier in the season two finale with Eleven closing the gate beneath the Hawkins Lab, but the real heart of season two is the Jingle Ball—the middle school dance that sees romantic closure for Mike and Lucas. The real joy of it, however, is Nancy’s sweet gesture to a lovelorn Dustin who, despite a stylish new hairdo, courtesy of Steve, is experiencing nothing but rejection and derision. Nancy picks him up for a slow dance and tells him that he’s always been her favorite among Mike’s friends and that, if he sticks it out through middle school, the girls will eventually go nuts for him.  It’s more than a tender moment of platonic charity. The second season sets up a love triangle between Lucas, Dustin, and Max only to quickly make clear that Dustin is a third wheel. He, painfully, doesn’t realize this until long after the audience has—which feels like a riskier and more honest depiction of the ruthlessness of middle school dating and it makes Nancy’s gesture all the sweeter. The following season Dustin is given a long distance girlfriend and the looming tragedy of his romantic life is tidily dealt with. But there is a great little coda that makes perfect use of “Time After Time”—cheesy and sweet in equal measure and, for once, a moment that doesn’t give in to hollow wish fulfillment. Never-Ending Duet Image: Netflix (Season 3, Episode 8 “The Battle of Starcourt”) It may be the most controversial of my picks and it’s definitely the dumbest entry on the list, but Dustin and Suzie’s rendition of Limahl’s “Never-Ending Story,” from the iconic ‘80s fantasy film of the same name, is, hands down my favorite moment in season three and a strong contender for my favorite moment in the whole series.  Wait, where are you going? Come back! Hear me out: it’s very very stupid. Almost exactly the sort of hollow, referential nostalgia-pandering that critics of the show insist it exemplifies. But, in being so thoroughly odd, such a nakedly mercenary scene and treated as such in-world, it’s maybe the most self-aware the show has ever been. Stranger Things, in its dedication to a nostalgic mismemory, loves to hit its on-the-nose needle drops and references (Lucas seriously compares Carpenter’s The Thing to New Coke instead of, you know, the Thing-esque flesh monster currently chasing him), but the inclusion of this pointless reference, where two young Broadway stars belt out one of the ‘80s fizziest and least dramatic anthems, intercut with David Harbour staring—incredulous and dead-eyed—down the endless hallway of the Russians’ secret base, is the closest thing the show has to a tacit admission that most of its raison d’etre is to ask ‘80s kids “hey, remember this?” and does so in the most delicious, troll-y way.  Robin Comes Out Image: Netflix (Season 3, Episode 7 “The Bite”) Another clever subversion of audience expectations, season three introduces Maya Hawke’s Robin, who feels for most of the season like she’s being set up as a new love interest for Steve. In many ways she feels like the perfect Harrington belle—a woman previously ignored by Steve who doesn’t give him an inch and mercilessly mocks his failures while clearly still wanting to bring out the best in him. It’s perfect then, that she reveals that her past problem with Steve is not that he ignored her advances, but that he dated the woman she had been desperately in love with, dashing her romantic hopes.  It’s one of the better coming out moments in recent television and it has the added bonus of forcing the audience to identify with Steve—rooting for the straight boy to get the girl before realizing we had gotten it entirely wrong and a better story was in the works. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Hawke is one of the show’s better actors and, in season three, her autism-coded awkwardness was still being played for genuine pathos and not just for schtick. Stranger Things isn’t typically great about portraying its minority characters with subtlety and clarity, but Robin’s bathroom admission is a rare win.  Hopper’s American Tragedy Image: Netflix (Season 4, Episode 5 “The Nina Project”) Hopper recounting the story of his Vietnam service to Tom Wlascicha’s Dmitri might be the best dramatic monologue of the series. It’s not only a welcome ameliorative to season three’s Red Dawn inspired jingoism, but showcases the ways in which the show knows it can’t exist purely as an exercise in nostalgia.  Sarah Hopper’s cancer death is a long shadow hanging over the series—the original death of a child that gives real stakes and sorrow to all the subsequent child endangerment. To explain that its likely cause is the result of American military hubris, its lack of regard for the safety of its own citizens in the face of its imperial aims, is the closest the show has gotten to a real thesis. After all, the Upside Down is the result of scientific recklessness papered over by a callous American government. Lurking underneath the show’s reverence for the ‘80s is the acknowledgement that the veneer of safety and prosperity was built on some of the darkest inclinations of a Cold War that implicated both America and the Soviet Union. Harbour’s gut-wrenching performance weds the personal and political in the tightest thematic moment the famously scattered show has ever had.  But what do you think? What have I left out here? Do you like the “Running up that Hill” moment as much as the whole internet seems to? Am I over-concerned with the quiet moments on the show and not as into what’s obviously kickass? Let me know in the comments.[end-mark] The post The Best Moments of <i>Stranger Things</i> appeared first on Reactor.

News What to Watch What to Watch and Read for the Rest of 2025: The Books, Movies, Games, and Shows on the Reactor Staff’s Backlogs The holidays offer us a rare chance to watch, read, and play some of the things we’ve been meaning to get to By Molly Templeton | Published on December 19, 2025 Photo: Kepler Interactive, AMC Studios, Neon Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Kepler Interactive, AMC Studios, Neon It is not quite the end of the year for publishing and its related industries, but it is close, and so this is the last What to Read and Watch post for 2025. What will Reactor’s staff be doing until the ball drops and the calendar ticks over? Well, watching stuff, and reading stuff, and playing stuff, and also maybe doing a little staring at the wall in absolute silence. You know. Decompressing! And also vegging out. May your solstice be hopeful, your holidays be bright, and whatever celebrations you engage with bring you all the joy you can handle.  We’re Playing New Games and Older Ones Bailey is going to play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game I would very much like to play—it just won a nice big award!—but I am only allowed to have one gaming console, as I get obsessive and play games for eight hours straight. But Clair Obscur sounds fantastic. “Lead the members of Expedition 33 on their quest to destroy the Paintress so that she can never paint death again” is one hell of a description. I don’t know what it means, but I want to. Meanwhile I will still be trucking about Hyrule, in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, only occasionally helping those whiny little koroks and/or the sign guy. I have turned on all the lightroots, which is the best part of the game, and now must decide whether to re-engage with the plot or not. I have put [redacted] hours into a different playthrough of this game and never beaten it. I hate boss battles. So I’ll just run around some more. We’re Watching So… Many… Movies Everybody is going to movies. We are going to first-run movies (Dust Bunny, multiple times between multiple people) and second-run movies (Pan’s Labyrinth) and movies that are on Netflix, sure, but why not go to them in a theater (Wake Up Dead Man). We are going to Norwegian family dramas (Sentimental Value) and anything Paolo Sorrentino directs (La Grazia) and the movie that nobody will shut up about (One Battle After Another). We are going to historical films starring actresses with very modern faces (The Testament of Ann Lee). We would like to be going to Morvern Callar but the random screening at Portland’s classic indie theater is already sold out despite happening in January. (We—and this time I mean I—clearly screwed up.) If Resurrection comes to Portland, I will be seated. The New Yorkers will go to No Other Choice, and I will wait patiently for that one, too.  We are also watching movies at home, of course. Emmet will be indulging in their traditional Shane Black appreciation moment and watching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (and maybe The Long Kiss Goodnight). I may finally get to Frankenstein. I may finally indulge in a Kelly Reichardt marathon and catch up to all her films, including The Mastermind, which Matt will also be watching.  Pretend You’re Alone on Earth and Watch an Entire Series at Once The Pluribus finale is coming, and if anyone I work with is not watching, I don’t want to know about it. Bailey will also be watching Heated Rivalry, a show I have learned an astonishing amount about just from being a person who goes online. Bless you, hockey romance fans, every one. Leah plans to watch Interview with the Vampire, and so do I; I started it but got behind and now I have hours and hours to spend with those beautiful fuckups. I can’t wait. Emmet will also be hanging out with beautiful fuckups, but the ones in Harley Quinn. Have we talked about how the version of Bane in Harley Quinn is the most wonderful version of Bane imaginable? Never thought I could feel such affection for that character of all characters. But I love him. You could also anniversary-binge The Magicians or Mr. Robot or The Expanse, all of which turned 10 this year. (The Expanse snuck past me, but it just hit the 10-year mark this week! A day before The Magicians! I wish anything like either of those shows was on TV now.) The incredibly funny Australian mystery show Deadloch returns in February, and if you haven’t watched it, I cannot recommend it enough. If the opening scene, in which two teenagers have very believable reactions to finding a dead body, doesn’t win you over, I don’t even know what to tell you. No One Is Finishing Their TBR Stack Before the End of the Year But we’re gonna try, dammit. Leah intends to read Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, which is inspired by the life of director G.W. Pabst. Bailey has her eye on Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang, which sounds dark and mysterious and has a nice pop of red on its cover, making it festive, however unintentionally. Matt is reading Matching Minds with Sondheim: The Puzzles and Games of the Broadway Legend, a book that he bought for someone else. This is how book people roll. Stefan reads Hogfather every year, and will continue to do so. I am debating whether I want to reread the previous two Book of Dust novels before picking up Philip Pullman’s final book about Lyra Silvertongue, The Rose Field. I also want to reread Bethany Jacobs’ first two Kindom Trilogy books before starting This Brutal Moon, but let’s be real: there are only so many hours in the day and days in the week, and I need to know what happens there. Kehlmann’s There are a lot of crows in Portland, and I really love them, and yet I still have not read Hollow Kingdom, which is set in Seattle (close enough!) and stars a “foul-mouthed” crow. It may be time. I may pair this with Caskey Russell’s The Door on the Sea, which involves an “endlessly vulgar” raven. Everything about this book appeals to me. (I must also note that it is a year for mouthy birds. I’m in favor. More, please?) However you spend your last few weeks of 2025, Emmet suggests that you wind down with one of their annual traditions: Listening to the Bing Crosby and David Bowie duet on “Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy.” The sketch is so awkward that I could not watch it. My colleagues are truly made of stronger stuff than I. Happy holidays, everyone! [end-mark] The post What to Watch and Read for the Rest of 2025: The Books, Movies, Games, and Shows on the Reactor Staff’s Backlogs appeared first on Reactor.

Lists Best of 2025 Readers Pick Their Favorite SFF of 2025 What an excellent year for speculative fiction — in all its many forms! By Reactor | Published on December 19, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share What an excellent year for science fiction, fantasy, and horror! For the first time, we asked for your favorite genre books, TV shows, movies, video games, and more from 2025. A book cover that caught your eye. A short story you couldn’t get out of your head. That movie you saw two, three, maybe even four times in theaters!  We received over 600 responses, even beating out our previous readers’ poll on the Most Iconic Speculative Fiction of the 21st Century. Among your responses, we recognized some stories and media the Reactor team already adores, and found a few new ones as well.  At the end of the day, we love celebrating genre fiction. But we love it more when you celebrate it with us! Favorite Books of 2025 The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson (Orbit) A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey) The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (Tor Books) Favorite Movies of 2025 Sinners dir. by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros. Pictures) KPop Demon Hunters dir. by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans (Sony Pictures Animation / Netflix) Superman dir. by James Gunn (Warner Bros. Pictures) Favorite TV Series of 2025 Murderbot (Apple TV) Andor Season Two (Disney+) Pluribus (Apple TV) Favorite Short Stories of 2025 “Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy” by Martha Wells (Reactor) “The Emergency Contact” by Arendse Lund (Analog) “The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For” by Cameron Reed (Reactor) “The Knight and the Butcherbird” by Alix E. Harrow (Amazon Original Stories) Favorite Video Games of 2025 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive) Hades II (Supergiant Games) Hollow Knight: Silksong (Team Cherry) Favorite SFF Podcasts of 2025 Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones by Emily Tesh and Rebecca Fraimow Starship Alexandria by Emma Newman and Adrian Tchaikovsky Worlds Beyond Number by Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, Taylor Moore, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Lou Wilson Favorite Video Creator/Channels of 2025 Critical Role NewlyNova BooksandLala Elliot Brooks  Jacob Geller Literature Science Alliance My Name is Marines Quinn’s Ideas Favorite Book Covers of 2025 Katabasis by RF Kuang (Harper Voyager; cover art by Patrick Arrasmith) Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom Publishing; cover art by Eric Nyquist) The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling (Harper Voyager; cover design by Owen Corrigan) The post Readers Pick Their Favorite SFF of 2025 appeared first on Reactor.