As the end of 2025 draws near, the Fanbase Press staff and contributors wanted to take a look back at the year’s media from our very own geeky perspectives. Much like our readers and fans, one way we view and connect with the world around us is through the stories, characters, and heroes that we enjoy or look up to, and it’s always interesting to hear other’s opinions when it comes to their favorites of the year. After much consideration, below are a number of moments, stories, creators, and fandoms that we here at Fanbase Press believe were worth highlighting.
Most Emotionally Impactful Fictional Story of the Year
“I don’t know that I was emotionally prepared for how hard Sunrise on the Reaping would hit me. While I have been a devoted fan of the Hunger Games books, this latest installment far exceeded my expectations. It left me feeling empowered to plant the seeds for change, even if I might not have the opportunity to see them grow and bloom.”
– Barbra Dillon, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press
“Sunrise on the Reaping was absolutely thrilling and better than anything I could’ve imagined. Exploring the districts through Haymitch’s eyes, while navigating the earliest spells of rebellion, continues to highlight Suzanne Collins’ phenomenal storytelling vision. The Hunger Games is THE dystopian story (and series) for me, and this prequel is equal to the landscape Collins initially constructed with her first trilogy. Exceptional.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
“As a self-acknowledged Stephen King die hard, Edgar Wright’s Running Man felt more like the filmmaker’s Falling Down than a sci-fi dystopian nightmare. While I acknowledge the movie has some warts, society doesn’t seem all that far away from this being a reality.”
– Forrest Gaddis, Fanbase Press Guest Contributor
“I don’t believe anything hit as hard as the depiction of the Ghorman Massacre in Star Wars: Andor Season 2. Hauntingly relevant and undeniably powerful.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
Most Visually Impressive Fictional Story of the Year
“There’s something about Love Hurts that’s so fun with good ,old-fashioned action and comedy, highlighted by Ke Huy Quan’s incredible range in cinema. The over-the-top action sequences are balanced between high impacts and great comedic reactions. Entertaining fight sequences, intriguing love interests, and the idea of starting anew; this is a movie I will be watching again.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Standout Geek Hero (Fictional or Non-Fictional) of the Year
“I will nominate Tony Gilroy for his willingness to speak loudly and repeatedly in regards to Andor’s connections to current events, and his encouragement to audiences to let stories lead them in to activism.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“My wife takes the cake. She spent the past year working towards a milestone as a teacher. She could’ve broken up the tasks over several years, but she went headfirst into it and finished everything in a year – and rocked a passing score. Meghan truly is such an inspiration and role model for our kiddos. She sets her mind to something and finds a way. It’s something I look up to, aspire to, and I am equally not surprised of her achievement. She’s incredible.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Standout Character of the Year
“I will give the title of standout character of the year to Dek, the young, outcast Yautja played by Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in Predator: Badlands. With all odds stacked against him, both within the plot and in a meta-sense with the audience’s preconceived notions, Dek accomplished the impossible, emerging as a radical revisionist within Yautja culture and proving a Predator film with a Yautja protagonist can work.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“Despite being an avowed Bat-fan since birth, I found I was able to connect with James Gunn’s Superman, a first for me with the character. David Corenswet’s portrayal of Superman is still the reluctant God Boy Scout, but giving him a panic attack part way through the movie shows he’s been one of us the whole time.”
– Forrest Gaddis, Fanbase Press Guest Contributor
“The introduction to Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games is a sarcastic, inebriated, and downtrodden soul who mentors Katniss and Peeta despite years and years of tributes dying under his tutelage. Sunrise on the Reaping gives weight to what caused Haymitch to live such a solitary life, while also exploring what it means for him to sacrifice everything for the greater good and those he loves.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
“Andor‘s Kleya was truly incredible. Her resolve and dedication to effecting change was powerful and inspiring. Elizabeth Dulau’s performance – especially knowing that this was her first major role – was simply astounding, especially in going toe to toe with some of the best dramatic actors in the biz.”
– Barbra Dillon, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press
Standout Geek Romance of the Year
“I’m very late to the Severance party, but I’m going to go with Burt and Irving. Just too adorable for words!”
– Barbra Dillon, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press
“Haymitch and Lenore (Sunrise on the Reaping) spend more time apart than together throughout the story, but there’s an overwhelming sense of how their hearts are magnets, constantly pulling at each other’s thoughts and actions. The tragedy behind him being pulled into the Hunger Games is just the beginning of what it means to love someone and worry about them without any chance of doing anything about it.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Standout Fandom of the Year
“If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, we all received a new book AND a trailer for the upcoming movie, which I might say after watching it, I thought it was possibly the greatest trailer I’d ever seen. lifts three fingers and whistles”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
“After the one-two punch of Killer of Killer and Badlands, the Predator fandom should be thanking the hunting gods for Dan Trachtenberg and the ways he’s evolving and advancing the mythology of the franchise.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
Standout Creator/Creative Team of the Year
“Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche’s Lucas Wars was my favorite graphic novel read of the year. Not only is the visual style bold, stunning, and emotive, but I was floored with how deftly the creative team took a story any Star Wars fan has heard several times in several different mediums and made it in to a powerful and emotive depiction of creative struggles and victories that feels fresh and relevant today.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Rob Reiner – Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. While it’s easy to argue there are no original ideas left in Hollywood, four legends of film and comedy found a way to continue their most famous (and in some cases) overplayed joke and give it a fresh spin while still honoring the original.”
– Forrest Gaddis, Fanbase Press Guest Contributor
“Suzanne Collins has kept me going this year. Whether rereading her books in preparation for Sunrise on the Reaping, or rewatching the four-movie series (for the hundredth time), this form of finding comfort in hope against a tyrannical system pushes me forward.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Standout Actor/Cast of the Year
“My very first thought was the amazing performance from Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma in Andor: Season 2. O’Reilly packs so much despair, desperation, and complexity into a character that has evolved from a one-note archetype in to a fully layered and integral main player in the fate of the galaxy during the fall of the Republic, the rise of the Empire, and the building of the New Republic.
And, while O’Reilly deserves all the accolades, the entire cast of Andor has delivered in spades throughout Season 2. Stellan Skarsgård’s incomparable and nearly invisible Luthen Rael, the quiet ferocity of Elizabeth Dulau’s Kleya Marki, the pathetic tragedy of Kyle Soller’s Syril Karnand, the self-defeating ambition of Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero, Ben Mendelsohn’s delicious return as Orson Krennic, and – of course – Diego Luna’s evolution into the rebel martyr we meet in Rogue One. And that’s not even mentioning dozens of other cast members who helped breath life into these worlds and this story. This was undeniably some of the best Star Wars ever made, with some of the best creative talent that has ever blessed the franchise.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“Although I haven’t seen all of the show, my kids consumed every episode of Stranger Things, including the latest release of Season 5. I’ve yet to make it beyond the first season, but my kids wanted nothing else other than to watch the show once they started this fall. That’s a big win, because in an age when it’s easy to stop a show or movie that’s not too interesting, they devoured every bit of it and can’t wait for the last parts of the final season.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Biggest Geeky Surprise of the Year
“For me, it has to be Sarah Michelle Gellar’s return to Sunnydale in the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival (supposedly titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale). As a long-time and hardcore Buffy fan, I am excited and nervous to see what lies ahead.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“Probably seeing Harrison Ford transform into the Red Hulk. I don’t think that’s something I could’ve imagined in my head until I saw it play out in front of me.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
Defining Geeky Theme of the Year
“In Survivor 48, Eva Erickson confided in Joe Hunter about her autism, and how in certain situations, she needs support to help calm her down (i.e., squeezing her hands). After she told him that, he explained that he’s there for her, and in private confessional, he expressed how he would help her move forward in the game, even if it means him getting voted out.
Later in the season, we see Eva get overstimulated during and after a challenge, and despite being on separate teams after a tribe swap, Joe goes over, comforts her, and helps calm her down. This moment identifies them as a tight duo in the game, but helping her was more important.
In today’s world, I think we’re leaning into that mentality heavily. Helping each other get through each day, holding onto those we care for dearest, and hopefully finding a way to make sure we are okay.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
“Whether it’s protestors adopting Andor‘s symbols and phrases, Superman’s assertion that kindness is punk rock, and the character’s use as an anti-ICE symbol, the detention of British cartoonist R.E. Burke, the chaos in the comic book industry due to tariffs, and the death of Diamond Comic Distribution, Suzanne Collins returning to the Hunger Games universe to write to us regarding media literacy, Oscar Isaac calling out Disney for succumbing to fascism, the invasion of AI in every area of our lives, or the world taking notice as Weird Al drops the act and screams Rage Against the Machine out in to the void, the message seems clear to me: We’re all being radicalized (all of Geekdom included) by the world we live in and the actions of those in power.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
What was the best representation of #BuildYourCommunity?
“For me, I think the best example of positive community building would be the way comic publishers like DC and Dark Horse Comics, major conventions like New York Comic Con, and individual creators began in 2025 to unite in opposition of generative AI.”
– Bryant Dillon, Co-Founder and President of Fanbase Press
“I truly believe that Andor: Season 2 demonstrated how important we as a community will be in the weeks and months ahead. This is an exceedingly challenging and uncertain time, where it is easy to feel lost, hopeless, and helpless. It’s easy to feel like any one action won’t stand a chance against the constant barrage of awfulness that each day brings. Andor demonstrated that each individual’s action is not only necessary, but when collected with the actions of a community in solidarity, can become an unstoppable wave of change. ”
– Barbra Dillon, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press
“I’m going towards the Great British Baking Show and the overall joy and camaraderie the group has in the latest season on Netflix. There’s a genuine bond built amongst them and when someone leaves the tent, they speak so highly of missing the other bakers and not being around them. It’s a good feeling to see such joyfulness amongst competitors, but also knowing how much that experience for them is appreciated between each of them.”
– Travis Lakata, Fanbase Press Senior Contributor, Creator of the Geeky Parent Guide
