The 95th Academy Awards are set to air soon, and the nominations have been out for over a month giving audiences time to catch up. One notable film absent from the Best Picture race is Marvel Studios Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While it was never a sure thing that the MCU film would be nominated, given that its predecessor was the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture fans, and Disney executives were likely hoping the sequel would secure a nomination.
While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did not make the Best Picture race, it did manage to score five nominations including Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, Best Original Song, Best Hair and Makeup, and in a surprise move, a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Angela Bassett, making it the first time an actor has been nominated for a Marvel movie. Yet outside that nomination, Marvel Studios has a lot of talent represented at the 2023 Academy Awards which is overall good news for them. Even without a Best Picture nomination, the 95th Academy Awards are a good year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Angela Bassett Makes Oscar History
Disney
Angela Bassett's performance as Queen Ramonda garnered Marvel Studios their first-ever acting nomination, which is a historic feat for the franchise. Many assumed that if Michael B. Jordan did not get nominated for his performance as Kilmonger in the first Black Panther, it was unlikely any performance in an MCU movie could earn an Academy Award nomination. Yet Bassett has many of the movie's biggest emotional moments, and in many ways speaks to the heartbreak that the audience feels at the loss of real-life star Chadwick Boseman.
Bassett was previously nominated for Best Actress for her role in What's Love Got To Do With It playing the role of Tina Turner but lost to Holly Hunter for The Piano. Bassett has been one of the best performers working in Hollywood giving great performances in Malcolm X, Contact, Notorious, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout just to name a few. She has more than earned this Oscar nomination and a win would be great for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it would show actors that they can give awards-worthy performances in these movies; more importantly, it's a fitting celebration of a great performer.
Many Other Marvel Stars Are Nominated
While Angela Bassett is nominated for an MCU movie, many actors who are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe also are nominated raising their profile and critical status which helps the MCU brand as being both the home of prestigious performers but also a franchise that featured many stars before their nominations.
Eternals stars Barry Keogan and Brian Tyree Henry, and both are nominated for Best Supporting Actor in The Banshees of Inisherin and Causeway respectively. They join fellow Eternals crew members Salma Hayek and Kumail Nanjiani as Academy Award nominees in addition to Angelia Jolie and director Chloe Zhao being Oscar winners.
The best-supporting actor nomination actually includes three MCU actors, as alongside Keogan and Henry, star Ke Huy Quan is nominated for Everything Everywhere All At Once and will appear in Loki season two, set to premiere on Disney+ in 2023. Everything Everywhere All At Once stars Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu are nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively, and both were in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but never shared a scene together. Yeoh also played an entirely different character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Cate Blanchett is nominated for Best Actress and was the villain Hela in Thor: Ragnarök. Kerry Condon is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Banshess of Inisherin and she was the voice of Tony Stark's artificial intelligence F.R.I.D.A.Y. from Avengers: Age of Ultron up to Avengers: Endgame.
Will These Nominations Impact the MCU?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has an interesting relationship with the Academy Awards. Jeremy Renner was cast as Hawkeye after he was nominated for Best Actor in The Hurt Locker, while Mark Ruffalo was nominated for Best Supporting Actor three times since he was cast as Bruce Banner. Scarlett Johansson was nominated for two Oscars at the 2020 ceremony, after Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow was already finished filming. Marvel Studios does likely cash in on their stars but also does put the emphasis on the story that is needed. Given that their characters are already dead in the MCU, it is unlikely Blanchett and Bassett will return.
However, with two Eternals stars' profiles raising even more, even if that franchise does not get a direct sequel it is highly likely their characters will return in other MCU projects. Condon's work in the MCU is only as a vocal performance, so Marvel Studio could also bring her character F.R.I.D.A.Y. back to be the artificial intelligence for War Machine's suit in Armor Wars or as a way to keep the Tony Stark legacy alive and make her the voice in Riri Williams suit in Ironheart. If they wanted to get Condon in front of the camera, they could do a similar route from having Paul Bettany go from voicing J.A.R.V.I.S. to playing Vision and have F.R.I.D.A.Y. also update herself with a physical form, even taking the form of the comic androids Jocasta or Virginia Vision, an android voice Vision made in the comics which could be included in Vision Quest.
Stephanie Hsu is interesting as she had a very minor role as Soo, Shang-Chi, and Katy's friend. There are likely plans for a Shang-Chi sequel and likely Hsu's role could be increased for the sequel given her rising stardom. This also means Michelle Yeoh will likely return to the MCU as Ying Nan, Shang-Chi's aunt. It is unknown what Ke Huy Quan's role in Loki season two is, but with him being the front-runner for Best Supporting Actor and likely winner there is a good chance he will be front and center for the show's marketing.
Will the MCU Ever Get Another Best Picture Nomination?
Disney
It seems like since Black Panther, Marvel Studios has been sort of chasing the Academy Awards recognition. They seemed to pivot Eternals as a potential Oscar nominee. Yet, that film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics which had its awards season hopes dashed despite the pedigree of the talent involved. There certainly was a lot of hope behind Black Panther: Wakanda Forever but that did not pan out. Marvel could continue to chase the Oscars, but that same mindset ended up clouding former Disney Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg after Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture and tried to make lightning strike twice which resulted in Pocahontas, which is one of the worst-regarded films of the Disney Renaissance.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is certainly undergoing a transition period, and the box office for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been disappointing. They don't seem as invincible as they once were, but it is still worth noting how the MCU films are still some of the biggest box office hits in the years they are released. They do not need the Oscars' attention; they've got all the eyes on them already.
While recognition by the Academy Awards is always appreciated, it is not the end all be all of a film's impact on popular culture. It is safe to say The Avengers will be more fondly remembered and influential than any of the films nominated for Best Picture that year. That is not meant to discredit those nominees, the Academy Awards put the spotlight on those movies and hopefully inspired audiences to seek them out if they wouldn't normally. The MCU does not need Oscar's attention, but it certainly can have a positive impact on the franchise by raising the profile of the talent involved.