Though we’re still over a month away from hearing the official nominations for the 91st Academy Awards, the organization has now released shortlists for nine different categories, and it seems that Marvel Studios has several horses in these particular races.
While Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of ten entries to make the list for Best Visual Effects, Avengers: Infinity War does one better by remaining in the race for both this category and the Original Score list. Black Panther, however, undoubtedly fares the best of this year’s three MCU releases, taking its place alongside Infinity War on both the aforementioned shortlists while also making the cut for Original Song (“All the Stars”), and Makeup and Hairstyling.
Though a Visual Effects nomination would be nothing new for Marvel Studios, and Guardians of the Galaxy even earned a nod in Makeup and Hairstyling, it would be a first for the MCU if any of these films landed nominations in either of the music categories. That being said, Disney is also pushing Infinity War and Black Panther for the higher-profile slots, and as much as the fans may want some major awards recognition for the former, it’s Ryan Coogler’s movie that really stands a chance of earning a nod in one of the bigger races.
It was clear from the first reviews of T’Challa’s solo debut that the flick would be dealing with new levels of prestige previously unheard of for MCU entries, and this became all the more apparent earlier this month when the film became the first superhero movie to earn a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Drama.
Whether Black Panther can get the equivalent recognition from the Academy remains to be seen, but as star Michael B Jordan recently remarked, a major Oscar nod would just be the “amazing icing on the cake” for a movie that’s already had a phenomenal year.