Open Channel: What Surprised You This Year?

It’s December 27, the yr is principally over, and what which means: it’s time to look again on some stuff.

During the lead-up to the vacations, we right here at io9 talked about a few of our favourite stuff all year long we watched or learn. (And generally performed with!) But a superb quantity of that stuff could be chalked as much as a intestine feeling or affirmation bias; we had a superb feeling that it could be good due to the inventive crew behind it, the observe file of earlier installments (if it’s a franchise), that type of factor. Other stuff took us abruptly, and like with final yr, we wish to know what a few of that was for you.

Personally, I believe one of many greater surprises for me was getting again into watching tv once more. It’s one thing that I fell out of doing just a few years in the past, however reveals like Abbott Elementary and Interview With the Vampire have been so good that it made binging all of them the extra worthwhile. Similarly, Andor and Ms. Marvel made for good weekly viewing to begin the morning off with earlier than work. And this isn’t simply TV—film sensible, I used to be pleasantly delighted by motion pictures like RRR and Prey, to not point out the likes of Elvis and that Bob’s Burgers film.

Thanks to Marvel’s Midnight Suns, I believe I may also be a closet card gamer? Firaxis’ tackle the Marvel universe as a card-based ways recreation that includes heavy hitters like Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch, and dependable B-listers corresponding to Blade and Robbie Reyes, is actually good (which you’ve in all probability heard by now). I’m having such good a time with it that I’ll soar over to Marvel Snap to see if that offers me any related hits of dopamine. By that very same token, I wasn’t actually certain what to anticipate from video games like Neon White or Tunic, however after selecting up what they have been placing down, they’ve struck a chord with me.

Let us know within the feedback beneath what you ended up liking (or disliking) from this yr greater than you thought you’ll, and have a superb vacation.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to anticipate the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and all the pieces you want to find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.