14 Unexpected Surprises from TV, Movies, Games, etc. In 2014

Surprise, Mr. Falcon!

In my attempt to keep up with pop culture goings-on this year, there were a lot of developments I never could have predicted. It seems awesome television announcements or crazy character appearances were turning up all over the place. Take my silken hand as I lead you down the path of 14 of my favorite unexpected surprises from 2014!

Community's "G.I. Jeff" lovingly parodied the 1980s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon, complete with corresponding action figure commercials.

Of all characters, motherflippin' Doop got his own limited comic book series (All-New Doop) this year.

Krispy Kreme offered special Ghostbusters donuts for Halloween. They're so pretty.

For some reason, He-Man and Skeletor were showcased in wacky-ass Honda commercials for the holiday season.

As the Guardians of the Galaxy movie adaptation wrapped, Howard the Duck became the all-time king of post-credits scenes.

The LEGO Movie was a total cameo frenzy. The ultimate pay-off was a scene wherein Batman hops into the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. Lando should be in everything.

Excitebike was given a great tribute track in Mario Kart 8 via DLC.

One of the final character reveals for Super Smash Bros. 4 was Pac-Man. He probably wasn't on that many roster wishlists, but he's a perfect fit.

Amazingly, the elusive Calvin and Hobbes author Bill Watterson had a brief guest stint on the comic Pearls Before Swine.

Powerpuff Girls fans were blessed with the one-off "Dance Pantsed" special and a new series announcement!

Megatron is the Barbie of Transformers; he's moonlighted as everything under the sun. In 2014, he embraced his final form: the Sega Mega Drive.

The latest edition of Street Fighter IV is still quite new, but Capcom threw the Street Fighter V announcement at us all the same.

It was announced the year prior, but Double Helix's Strider materialized from thin air as far as I could tell. It wasn't half-bad, either!

I already called it two months back: the impending return of Twin Peaks is 2014's greatest surprise.

I'm certain I'm leaving out all sorts of awesome things that I'll regret not listing once this is posted, but that's just how it goes. Regardless, everything above helped make my year just a bit brighter. I don't know how 2015 can top the likes of Skeletor rap songs, but here's hoping for the best.

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