The Year in Geek 2024: Deadpool & Wolverine, Apple Intelligence, and GOTY drama

A look back at the year in the world of nerd. Here’s the Year in Geek 2024.

It’s been a pretty eventful year for us geeks and nerds. Just a few days ago, we were treated to the very first trailer of James Gunn’s Superman. Meanwhile, Marvel had a somewhat quiet year but did release one heck of a hit in Deadpool & Wolverine. Apple also launched Apple Intelligence this year. And the video game industry shockingly continued its wave of lay-offs.

With the year drawing to a close, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Here’s your Year in Geek 2024.

[Hero image: Marvel]

Lay-offs, Apple Intelligence, and Deadpool & Wolverine: Here’s the Year in Geek 2024

The video game industry continued to lay off so many people

For an industry that is doing so well, major layoffs are a regular occurrence. Video Game Chronicles reported that 5,000 workers lost their jobs, and this was only in January. Electronic Arts, Microsoft Gaming, and Sony Interactive Entertainment, three big names in the industry, fired a lot of their employees. By May, over 10,000 employees lost their jobs as per Eurogamer.

Ryan and Hugh finally appeared onscreen together in Deadpool & Wolverine

When Hugh Jackman said that Logan would be the last time he would suit up for Wolverine, we all thought that we were never going to see him alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. Leave it to Ryan to come up with a way to bring him back. It wasn’t just any cop-out story either with Wolverine magically coming back to life just for the sake of a buddy-cop movie. Ryan and director Shawn Levy managed to do a movie that celebrated Hugh’s legacy as Wolverine as well as the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel. That montage in the credits will never fail to make us misty-eyed. 

Apple launches AI—or Apple Intelligence

The San Cupertino-based company finally dove into the artificial intelligence pool and launched its own version. The cheekily named Apple Intelligence, which is AI if abbreviated, slowly rolled out on their devices in the latter half of the year. It’s had a fairly successful launch for the most part though many criticised the fact that it wasn’t available on the iPhone 16 upon release. 

The Great BlueSky Migration

Donald Trump managed to win reelection and X owner Elon Musk made sure that everyone knew he had a hand in getting him back to the White House. X was already on a downward spiral but this seemed to be the last straw for many people. Many moved to bluer skies—well, to Blue Sky, the social media app created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. 

Fallout was released on Prime Video

Video game adaptations have truly come so far. Prime Video’s adaptation of the beloved game was a smash hit with audiences enjoying the absolute gory chaos it brought. It also cemented Ella Purnell as a darling of gaming thanks to her role in the series as the naive Lucy MacLean and Jink in Arcane. A second season is currently in the works and we can’t wait to return to the Wasteland.

Harrison Ford makes an appearance at the Game Awards

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle had a pretty good launch despite the doubts of many. There are so many daunting things in making an Indy game (heh) but none as much as portraying the iconic character himself. That responsibility fell on Troy Baker, who despite having a storied career in voice acting, now had to emulate a young Harrison Ford.

Troy pulled it off seamlessly. And if there was any doubt that he didn’t, Indiana Jones himself have him his seal of approval. Harrison Ford surprised the audience at The Game Awards and appeared alongside Troy and executive producer Todd Howard, delighting everyone in the audience and gamers around the world. “If I knew you were that good, I wouldn’t have done it myself,” said Ford complimenting Troy’s performance.

AstroBot wins Game of the Year at The Game Awards upsetting Black Myth: Wukong devs

Yet another pivotal moment in geek this year that happened during The Game Awards was the recipient of the coveted Game of the Year (GOTY) title. That eventually went to AstroBot, a game that’s been critically and commercially acclaimed. Apparently, the devs of Black Myth: Wukong, a game that was also nominated for GOTY, were upset with the result. They were reportedly so confident that they would win that they had penned an acceptance speech two years before. The debate of whether Black Myth was robbed or not will undoubtedly continue well into 2025 when the next GOTY is rewarded. 

The Superman trailer gave us hope

I don’t care if this came out just a few days ago. It’s undoubtedly a notable event of 2024. The new James Gunn-helmed DCU is well on its way with Creature Commandos but Superman will be the universe’s first film. The trailer gave us a two-minute glimpse of what we could expect when the movie comes out in July, and my goodness was it magnificent. Plus, we got Krypto the Superdog being all heroic and an all-around good boy.

The Nintendo Museum opened in Japan

The Nintendo Museum was announced back in 2021, a museum that will take visitors down memory lane of how Nintendo went from playing card manufacturer to one of the most respected names in the industry. The museum opened its doors in October and rightfully sits on an old plant where the company used to make cards. Right now, tickets are sold via lottery so cross your fingers if you want to pay the museum a visit. 

The Olympic Esports Games were officially announced to take place in 2025

Your e-time has come!

The Olympic Esports Series is coming and this is your chance to participate! Are you up for the challenge?#OlympicsEsports #OlympicEsportsSeries pic.twitter.com/Igc0mMATyi

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) March 1, 2023

There will undoubtedly be debate surrounding this decision but it was made official this year that the first Olympic Esports Games are going to be held in Dubai in 2025. No details have been revealed yet as to what games will be played in the competition. It’ll be interesting to have Olympic Fortnite players though.