It was clear from the first reviews of Black Panther that Ryan Coogler’s film would be dealing with new levels of prestige previously unheard of for MCU entries, and sure enough, T’Challa’s solo debut has made superhero movie history as the first of its genre to earn a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Drama.
The Chadwick Boseman-led flick will be in the running for this high-profile award alongside BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, If Beale Street Could Talk, and A Star Is Born. And while this isn’t the first time that a superhero movie has been nominated for a Best Picture category at the Golden Globes (the first Deadpool, for one thing, got a nod in the Musical or Comedy group), it’s still a pretty big deal that Black Panther is garnering this level of respect as a quote unquote serious drama.
The 76th edition of the awards will air on NBC on January 6th, but in the meantime, the speculation is only going to build further on the subject of Black Panther’s chances at the Oscars. So far, we know that all three of this year’s MCU releases have made the Academy’s shortlist for Best Visual Effects, but honestly, if yet another Marvel entry earns a nomination in this category, most of us won’t bat an eye.
The real question is whether Black Panther can be the movie to finally break the Academy’s habit of relegating MCU releases to the technical categories. As it stands, the feature is being pushed for honors across the board, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, and while we’re still over a month away from learning if the film will find any success in these slots, it’s clear that no other comic book flick this year stands as good a chance of landing one of these major nods. Sorry, Deadpool 2.
