As a general rule of thumb, it’s been proven impossible to win an Academy Award for an acting performance in a comic book adaptation unless you play the Joker, as proven by Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix.
Outside of their respective turns as the Clown Prince of Crime, the genre has largely been shut out of the performative side of things, which is fair when there aren’t too many examples that instantly jump to mind as egregious snubs. Of course, because Spider-Man: No Way Home is the biggest movie to come along since 2019 and almost everybody loves it deeply, the chatter has already started online about the Marvel Cinematic Universe threequel being deserving of awards season recognition.
It almost certainly isn’t going to find it outside of the technical categories, but that doesn’t mean Tom Holland can’t have a little fun with the idea. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the star joked that No Way Home is going to see him walk away with a Best Actor trophy under his arm.
“I do know that I love this character, and I would be sad to say goodbye. But I have achieved basically everything I wanted to achieve as this character, I really think I’m going to win the Oscar for this movie. So there, it’s great.”
While Spider-Man: No Way Home comfortably features the best work we’ve ever seen from Holland under the spandex, it isn’t going to have the Oscar voters clamoring for his inclusion on the shortlist. Kevin Feige may cry foul at the bias towards his franchise, but sending audiences home happy is a more than suitable compromise.
