Years come and go, but blogs? Blogs are forever. As 2024 comes to an end, revisit the very best of the thousands of posts io9 produced this year—from the biggest breaking news to critical analysis of the latest TV shows, films, games, and more—with the top 100 stories you all read and shared the most in the last 12 months. From everyone here at io9, thank you for sticking with us. Here’s to another year, and many more to come, of posting!
100) 8 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books to Read Ahead of Their Adaptations
Since its earliest days, Hollywood has been fond of adapting books for the screen—and in recent years, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books have become even more popular with screenwriters and studios. io9 has done several lists like this in the past (there’s still time to read Mickey7 before Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson’s Mickey 17 comes out next year!), but there are always potential new film and TV projects being announced. [Read more here]
99) Looking Back at When Star Trek Made Its Own Galaxy’s Edge
This month, Disney is celebrating the Season of the Force at its theme parks—new additions to Star Tours, character tweaks at Galaxy’s Edge, and more merch and snacks than you can wave a lightsaber at. It’s the apex of what the company has done with Star Wars at the parks so far… but a long time ago, in a galaxy closer to home, the other Star franchise of our hearts did its own bang up job. [Read more here]
98) Optimus Prime Gets an Ultra Update in New Transformers HasLab Project
In the world of Transformers, Optimus Prime is the guy. The traditional leader of the Autobots is the most popular character in the entire franchise and for good reason. He rules. You’d imagine it couldn’t get much bigger than him, but thanks to Hasbro, Prime is about to get a lot bigger. [Read more here]
97) I Finally Watched The Last Airbender, and It… Wasn’t Worth It
Adaptations can be tricky, particularly when the source material is animated. More often than not, they’re reviled upon reveal, because they often feel like they’re going through the motions or twisting the original thing into something it’s not. It can be a dismal prospect to see something you grew up with lose its identity, and things get even worse when you can’t really let it go. [Read more here]
96) Star Trek Is Quite Different in the World of For All Mankind
In a certain way, the incredible Apple TV+ show For All Mankind can be looked at as an unofficial precursor to Star Trek. Both shows imagine an alternate reality where events in the past made it so technology and space travel continued to develop throughout our lifetimes. But while Star Trek starts in the future, on For All Mankind, we see that past. We took the moon, we took Mars, and we’re still going. If you shift that story a few hundred years into the future, you can easily imagine a Starfleet made up of ships with warp drives. [Read more here]
95) Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Should Have Been Out This Weekend
Last year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended on a somewhat down note: Miles Morales was trapped on Earth-42, chained up by that universe’s version of himself, who’s operating as the new Prowler alongside his still-alive Uncle Aaron. Gwen Stacy, meanwhile, had rounded up her own team of Spider-heroes to go find him across the multiverse, just as an amped-up Spot had made his way back to Miles’ home dimension so he could consume it. That “To Be Continued…” card hit like a gut punch, but one alleviated by the fact that at the time, follow-up Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was less than a year away. [Read more here]
94) Severance Reveals Its Return Date and a Tantalizing First Clip
Severance fans have been dangling on that agonizing cliffhanger since April 2022, and there’s a bit more of a wait to go until season two—but at least we know exactly when it’s coming. Apple TV+ has just announced that its quirky, Emmy-winning sci-fi thriller will return Friday, January 17, 2025, and shared some appropriately mysterious footage from the new season. [Read more here]
93) Umbrella Academy Season 4 Finally Has a Premiere Date
Who’s ready for another apocalyptic summer? Fans haven’t seen The Umbrella Academy’s Hargreeves family since season three’s space-time chaos arrived in June 2022—but we now know the fourth and final season will finally hit Netflix globally on August 8. [Read more here]
92) Lego’s April Releases Roll for Initiative
After a couple of bumper months—and with eyes looking ahead to next month’s celebration of Star Wars Day—Lego is keeping things a little more quiet in April. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great kits… and two very big, very special ones. [Read more here]
91) Hasbro’s New Deadpool and Wolverine Figures Are Not Deadpool & Wolverine Figures 
© Hasbro
Truly, it is the week of “here is merchandise featuring Deadpool and Wolverine, but it’s definitely not Deadpool & Wolverine merchandise, because licensing takes time.” Just after we got to see some rad Logan and Wade art, Hasbro has announced two updated movie figures of the irascible mutant duo… but it’s mostly so you have something to hold you over until actual Deadpool & Wolverine toys happen. [Read more here]
90) 10 Recent Horror Movies Streaming on Hulu
Winter weather is a great reason not to leave the couch—so why not crank up the heat, pile on some blankets, and seek chills in your entertainment instead? Hulu’s got a great selection of recent horror films streaming right now, so here are 10 to get you started. [Read more here]
89) Discovery Is Opening Star Trek‘s Biggest Pandora’s Box
This week, Star Trek: Discovery kicked off its final season with a bold adventure—one with intimate ties to a classic