Thor: Love and Thunder is a real odd duck for Marvel, with its ridiculously big budget somehow seeing some of the absolutely most shocking visual effects of the last decade of blockbuster filmmaking. Somehow, it’s been put forward by Disney for the Best Visual Effects Oscar.
Despite a budget of $250 million, some portions of the film look either unfinished or lazily thrown together. Not helped by Marvel’s very public mistreatment of visual effects teams, the film’s biggest “what” moment was with a certain CGI hologram face. Immediately mocked by the public and even by director Taika Waititi, it seems Disney still views it highly enough to put it to the most publicized industry awards.
The VFX team headed by Jake Morrison, Pete Dionne, Luke Millar, and Dan Oliver are proudly displayed on Disney’s “please consider” page for the awards season. The absolute gall of putting Love and Thunder up for this category, let alone any Academy Awards, is just astonishing.
Should any of the year’s Marvel releases get nominated for a visual effects Oscar, it would feel tone-deaf and uncomfortable given the struggles at the animation houses behind the films. Making the situation even funnier is Disney is also putting forward Avatar: The Way of Water for the category. Hard to say which of the two would perhaps get a look-in.
Disney has also suggested the Academy look at Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for the category, which also suffered from the same issues at times as Thor 4 — although nowhere near the same level of criticism.
Worth noting with all these “for your consideration” lists is that studios will put forward pretty much everything they have for every category in the hopes anything will qualify. Don’t be surprised if Sony suggests the Academy look at Jared Leto’s Morbius performance for Best Actor.
Thor: Love and Thunder is available to stream on Disney Plus.
