This year has had its fair share of surprises, that’s for sure. In and out of the media, we have found ourselves looking at our phones, computers, friends, and family and loudly proclaiming “What?! Did you see this?!” It’s exhausting, we know.

While many of us turn to our TVs or sit down in a dimly lit theater to escape it all, we were often caught off guard in 2024 by movies and shows giving us some shocking moments — the good kinds, though. We’d look up from our bucket of popcorn or our phone and see eye-to-eye with someone we were not expecting, often delivering a line or an expression that just added to the mystique and the general “what the f**k-ery.”

For some, it was Joel Edgerton’s voice popping up randomly in a new episode of Bluey (a.k.a the TV show that everyone loves). For the more indie-film lovers, it may have been Miley Cyrus materializing during a trippy, drug-induced hallucination as Tiffany Plastercaster in Drive-Away Dolls. And don’t even get us started on the scores of cameos that powered Deadpool & Wolverine to the #2 spot in worldwide box office in 2024.

No matter what age you are, what genre you fancy, or which streaming service you occupy your time with more than others, 2024 featured a guest star or cameo that probably had you in a moment of disbelief. And that deserves a celebration of its own.

In honor of 2024 coming to an end (finally!), we’ve highlighted some of the best cameos, guest stars, and jaw-dropping appearances of the year. Let this also serve as a message to 2025: you’ve got big boots to fill.