Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster “Black Panther” earned 7 Oscar nominations and made history by landing a Best Picture nod. The film becomes the first Marvel Studios release to earn a Best Picture nod and, arguably, the first superhero film. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Birdman,” which won Best Picture in 2015, featured a character that portrayed a superhero during his career but isn’t considered part of the genre.
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The Kevin Feige production also earned nominations for Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Production Design (, Costume Design (Ruth Carter), Original Song (“All the Stars”) and Original Score (Ludwig Goransson).
“Black Panther” accomplished what previously celebrated superhero films such as “The Dark Knight,” “Logan” and “Wonder Woman” could not. The Best Picture category was actually expanded from five films to 10 and then up to 10 starting in 2010 partially because “The Dark Knight” was snubbed in 2009. It took almost a decade for a superhero film to take advantage.
For Marvel Studios, “Black Panther” has already surpassed the Academy Awards success of all its previous films. Eight previous titles earned Visual Effects nominations, “Iron Man” earned a Sound Editing nod and “Guardians of the Galaxy” took a Makeup and Hairstyling nomination. Marvel Studios has still not won an Oscar statue, however.
There is hope for Marvel, however. “The Dark Knight,” “Suicide Squad” and “Spider-Man 2” have all won individual Academy Awards this century.
The studio also earned a nomination for “Avengers: Infinity War” in the Visual Effects category.
The 91st Academy Awards will be televised on Feb. 24 beginning at 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET on ABC.