Marvel Studios and Disney are very serious about Black Panther‘s Oscar prospects, that much they’ve made clear.
Already, a comprehensive and long-lasting campaign is underway to convince the Academy that it deserves recognition, and though this is a group of people who usually don’t look too highly upon comic book movies, with most releases in the genre generally receiving nods for special effects or makeup, Kevin Feige and co. are hoping to change that. But it won’t just be T’Challa’s first solo outing gunning for gold.
Marvel also released two other films this year aside from Black Panther, and both of them are hoping to see some Oscar glory as well. The films in question are, of course, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp, and while it’s unlikely that either will snag any major awards, the technical categories certainly aren’t out of reach.
So, it’s nice to see that all three of Marvel’s movies from 2018 have now made the Best Visual Effects Oscar shortlist. Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on January 22nd, 2019, but for now, the list reads as follows:
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Aquaman
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Black Panther
- Bumblebee
- Christopher Robin
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
- First Man
- Incredibles 2
- Isle of Dogs
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout
- Mortal Engines
- The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
- Paddington 2
- A Quiet Place
- Ready Player One
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Welcome to Marwen
Of course, the above list is pretty much what you’d expect to see given what released in 2018, though not all of them will make the final nomination ballot. We imagine that Marvel’s three 2018 releases all have a pretty good shot, but I guess we’ll find out next month.
When it comes to looking outside of just Best Visual Effects, well, we hate to say it but it’s probably only Black Panther that has a chance of scoring any major nods. As we mentioned above, Academy voters often overlook mass-market popcorn pics – with the exception of Heath Ledger’s posthumous win for Best Supporting Actor – but Ryan Coogler’s film might just be the one to rewrite the rulebook and show everyone that yes, comic book movies can be just as competent and provocative as their cinematic peers.