Pop culture has become the world of the Geek in recent years so there are more and more stories and moments that resonates with the EYG crowd.  Here are the top 12 from 2018.

#12.  Disney +.  Disney announced they were beginning their own streaming service and they dropped a couple of huge bombs with it.  One, there would be two Star Wars shows on the service (The Mandalorian, untitled prequel to Rogue One) and two, there would be Marvel series featuring MCU characters such as Scarlet Witch and Loki played by Elizabeth Olson and Tom Hiddleston.  Disney will be mentioned again on this list.

#11.  Roseanne dropped from her show.  The ABC sitcom Roseanne returned for an update this year only to see its star Roseanne Barr post a racist tweet about Obama’s former adviser Valerie Jarrett.  ABC/Disney moved quickly and cancelled “Roseanne,” despite solid ratings.  Then, ABC brought the show back, calling it “The Conners,” and killed off the Roseanne character.

#10.  Weird Al gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Good news!  The indelible musician and parodist, Weird Al Yankovic was rewarded this year with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Weird Al has won multiple Grammy Awards and has been a leader in Demented music for the last 30+ years.  At the ceremony, Al asked, “Please, please don’t pickaxe my star,”- a reference to the vandalism done to the star of Donald Trump.

#9.  Tweetstorms.  Speaking of Donald Trump, one of the most entertaining aspects of Twitter is to watch the President of the United States, tweet up a storm at 3 in the morning. caring not one bit for grammar, capitalization, spelling or cohesive thought.  President Trump provided so much ammunition for the late night comedians such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Samantha Bee from his tweets one had to wonder if he was doing it on purpose to distract the public from other subjects the media should be talking about.  FAKE NEWS. WITCH HUNT.

#8.  The Royal Wedding.  The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took place on May 19 of this year and the country was enthralled.  I am not sure why the country is so fascinated by the weddings of the Royal Family of England, but the pomp and circumstance was everywhere.

#7.  Netflix brought the axe!  The streaming service severed its ties with much of the Marvel Universe as Netflix cancelled Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil.  One wonders the fate of the upcoming The Punisher season two and Jessica Jones season three.  But Marvel was not the only show to go as the wonderful American Vandal went too.  Netflix appears to be keeping those IPs that they own instead of leasing.  This may be a specific response to Disney + and all the other streaming services that have been springing up recently.

#6.  Disney/Fox merge is approved.  The merger of 20th Century Fox with Disney is coming closer and closer to being reality.  This year the government gave its okey-dokey to the merger, a major hurdle crossed.  It is believed that the merger will be completed in early 2019 as Disney continues to own just about everything in the world.  Our Mouse Overlord Master continues to strengthen its grip on pop culture.  Plus, Fantastic Four and X-Men are heading back to Marvel Studios.

#5.  #MeToo.  The hashtag movement continued this year as big name actors, heads of companies and others were accused and brought down by the movement.  The behaviors in Hollywood and elsewhere toward women is long overdue for an overhaul and the MeToo movement has gotten the ball rolling.  Giving voice to those who felt powerless is an important step in making this a better world.

#4.  James Gunn fired from Disney.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 was heading along for production when old tweets from director/writer James Gunn’s past were brought up by a right-wing pundit around the San Diego Comic Con this year.  Disney responded very quickly and fired Gunn from the project.  This caused a huge backlash among the online nation, but, despite backlash and unanimous support from the cast of Guardians (and rumored support from Marvel Studios), Disney never succumb to the pressure.  Gunn has since been linked to the sequel for Suicide Squad and Dave Bautista expressed his displeasure with the situation anywhere he could bringing his future as Drax into question.

#3.  The Snap.  Avengers: Infinity War became a massive hit, breaking the record for the largest opening weekend of any domestic movie, at over 250 million dollars. The biggest shock of the film was when Thanos finished compiling the Infinity Gauntlet and snapped his fingers, causing half of the population of the universe to go to dust.  This included, to the disbelief of all the audience members, Spider-man, Black Panther, Falcon, most of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Strange, Winter Soldier, Nick Fury among others.  With the film ending as a victory for Thanos, the appetite for Avengers: Endgame is all the greater.

#2.  Black Panther.  Black Panther made over $700 million domestically and went over $1.3 billion worldwide.  The cultural significance of Black Panther could not be questioned as the African-American community came out in full force to make this the most successful stand alone Marvel Studios film ever.  It is still significant as speculation is saying that Black Panther may be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, making it the first comic book movie to receive such an honor.

#1. Stan Lee passes away.  A sad number one this year as “The Man” Stan Lee died at the end of November, leaving behind a legacy of comic book characters unlike anyone ever had.  With the help of such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Stan Lee created the Marvel Universe and brought us character such as Spider-man, The Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, the X-Men, Dr. Doom, Ant man, the Wasp, Black Widow, Iron Man, Groot, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Loki, Punisher, Nick Fury, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, and many others.  Stan Lee was a beloved figure and everyone shared their memories of Stan and how he inspired them to do what they were doing.  Stan Lee inspired me as well, giving me my moral compass through Spider-Man and my imagination through his wondrous characters and stories.  Excelsior!  Nuff Said.