Open Channel: What Surprised You This Year?

It’s December 27, the year is basically over, and you know what that means: it’s time to look back on some stuff.

During the lead-up to the holidays, we here at io9 talked about some of our favorite stuff throughout the year we watched or read. (And sometimes played with!) But a good amount of that stuff can be chalked up to a gut feeling or confirmation bias; we had a good feeling that it would be good because of the creative team behind it, the track record of previous installments (if it’s a franchise), that sort of thing. Other stuff took us by surprise, and like with last year, we want to know what some of that was for you.

Personally, I think one of the bigger surprises for me was getting back into watching television again. It’s something that I fell out of doing a few years ago, but shows like Abbott Elementary and Interview With the Vampire were so good that it made binging them all the more worthwhile. Similarly, Andor and Ms. Marvel made for good weekly viewing to start the morning off with before work. And this isn’t just TV—movie wise, I was pleasantly delighted by movies like RRR and Prey, not to mention the likes of Elvis and that Bob’s Burgers movie.

Thanks to Marvel’s Midnight Suns, I think I might also be a closet card gamer? Firaxis’ take on the Marvel universe as a card-based tactics game featuring heavy hitters like Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch, and reliable B-listers such as Blade and Robbie Reyes, is really good (which you’ve probably heard by now). I’m having such good a time with it that I may jump over to Marvel Snap to see if that gives me any similar hits of dopamine. By that same token, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from games like Neon White or Tunic, but after picking up what they were putting down, they’ve struck a chord with me.

Let us know in the comments below what you ended up liking (or disliking) from this year more than you thought you would, and have a good holiday.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.