The question of whether or not superhero movies have a chance of winning or being nominated for an Academy Award has long been debated. The MCU has long been a major topic of debate whenever it comes to the Academy Award race, and that debate has only grown louder in recent years. As a result, the success of Black Panther, which received seven Oscar nominations and three Oscar wins in 2019, may have silenced some critics for the time being.
As the MCU prepares to embark on a new era in 2021, the studio appears to be pressing for additional Oscar nominations. Marvel’s “For Your Consideration” campaigns for projects like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and NWH solidified this belief.
It was widely reported that Sony Pictures was putting all of its eggs in one basket to help No Way Home win more Oscars and accolades. Official nominations for two Marvel films have been made, and it appears that some of those campaigns worked.
And The Oscar Nominees Are…
Two Marvel Studios films have been nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Visual Effects category for the year 2022, according to the announcement from the Academy. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings are two of the five films nominated for the Best Visual Effects Award. Dune, No Time to Die, and Free Guy are the other finalists.
Marvel Studios unveiled its latest poster for Shang-Chi: The Legendary Journeys of Simu Liu to honor Shang-Chi’s:
Congratulations to the crew behind Marvel Studios' #ShangChi and The Legend of The Ten Rings for their Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects! #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/eG6iyXqthh
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) February 8, 2022
To commemorate No Way Home’s nomination for an Academy Award, Sony Pictures also unveiled a brand-new poster:
Congratulations to #SpiderManNoWayHome for receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects! #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/P1uHKdVoxl
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) February 8, 2022
The Winner Takes It All
The Oscar nominations for Shang-Chi and No Way Home should serve as a warning that superhero movies are still being acknowledged by the Academy. Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects is a notable achievement. This is so even if the Tom Holland-led threequel was expected to win Best Picture.
The Simu Liu-directed MCU film has been an unexpected competitor for the franchise ever since its debut, particularly after the dominantly positive reaction it received from fans and critics alike. This Oscar nomination shows that Shang-Chi had a successful debut, and this could serve as a promising indicator for its already-confirmed sequel.
It’s also worth noting that Chloe Zhao’s Eternals didn’t make the cut this year, especially after her Oscar-winning performance in 2021. There have been ten nominations in the Best Visual Effects category for MCU films from 2008 to 2019; they have been a regular fixture at the Oscars. Iron Man, The Avengers and Doctor Strange are just a few of the many superhero films that have been released in the past decade.
