This year the Academy has opened its doors to a groundbreaking nomination for Best Picture. For the first time ever, a super-hero movie is being considered for the most prized award in the film industry.
Comic book films have never had much success at the Academy Awards, largely due to their “popular” nature. However, it is not the first time a blockbuster success was nominated for Best Picture.
The Lord of the Rings broke the mold in the early 2000s, with Peter Jackson’s original film trilogy being nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture for the Return of the King. It was the first (and only) fantasy film ever to win that award. In addition, the number of Oscars the film won in 2004 (11) tied it with previous record holders Titanic and Ben-Hur.
Among this year’s nominations include Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for Best Animated Feature Film and Avengers: Infinity War for Best Visual Effects (next to Solo: A Star Wars Story).
Could this year mark a new shift in Hollywood? Will similar comic book and fantasy films be taken seriously as Oscar contenders?
Whatever the end result, even a nomination for Black Panther has made history, bringing the attention of the world on superhero movies and their ability to captivate and inspire us to live heroically in the world.
