Superhero movies are often snubbed by the Academy Awards, so when a comic book film lands itself an Oscar nomination it’s always cause for celebration. This year, obviously, there’s a major change in that department as Black Panther has been nominated for a whopping seven awards, including the coveted Best Picture. But let’s not forget that Avengers: Infinity War has also earned a nom for Best Visual Effects as well.
Following the announcement, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., took to Twitter to congratulate the Infinity War VFX team on their well-deserved achievement, commenting: “Proud to be an Avenger. Congrats all!”
Infinity War is actually the eighth MCU movie to earn a nomination in this category. For those who don’t know, the previous contenders were all three Iron Man pics, both Guardians of the Galaxys, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Doctor Strange. All lost to other films, however.
Maybe IW will be the one to break the unlucky streak, though. After all, you could confidently say that it features the best visual effects of any Marvel movie to date. Just the work used to bring Thanos to life alone is astounding. Combined with Josh Brolin’s brilliant performance, the effects helped make him – strangely – one of the most human villains we’ve seen in the franchise to date.
Even if Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t manage to land the Visual Effects gong though, there’s a much stronger likelihood than normal of Marvel picking up an award. Black Panther is a long-shot for Best Picture, but it’s surely a strong contender for Best Costume Design, Production Design, Sound Mixing/Editing or Original Song/Score.
In any case, the winners will be announced during the 91st Academy Awards Ceremony on February 24th, so we should know soon enough how many statues Marvel scoops up.
