It is widely known that Oscars don’t get along very well with superhero genres and even sci-fi for that matter. Till now the Academy has given over 3000 awards out of which, actual superhero films made their way to a dozen of them. And even though both these genres are given the least chance by the Oscars, it was a huge surprise when the combination of these two broke all the barriers. It was Black Panther which became the first superhero movie to get a Best Picture nomination.
But this was just a rare moment in the long history of superhero films.
Marvel Head Kevin Feige had also shared his views on the alleged biases of the Academy towards superhero films and Marvel in particular back in 2021.
“I think we are always at a deficit because of the Marvel logo and because of a genre bias that certainly exists. I just loved that for a shining moment there with Black Panther that was put aside and the work was recognized for the achievement that it was…
Kevin further told The Hollywood Reporter, “there are a lot of comic fans that didn’t know who Shang-Chi was. And yet the work that Destin did and Dave did and Sue did and Joel did, created something new that connected with audiences. We recognized it, the audience recognized it and I sure would love the hard work of all of these people who are telling their story to get recognized.”
Watch: Top 10 Superhero Movies That Were Nominated For An Oscar
It is an undeniable fact that superhero films aren’t received well at the Oscars. Movies like ‘No Way Home’ and ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ which brought a hot streak from the box office and earned millions couldn’t nab the nominations at the biggest awards show on earth. So, what are the possible reasons for this prejudice against the superhero genre?
Money Hype
The kind of films Academy usually seeks are usually films with very little box office collection. It perhaps seems unfair to the Academy to give big awards like the Best Actor to a film that earned hundreds of million dollars.
Reeling The Real
The Academy tends to focus on films with a more realistic approach and appreciates the ‘grounded’ films more than the fantastical movies with everything too huge to be real. This is perhaps why Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight had got 8 nominations and 2 awards back then.
Other than these factors, there seems to be a stereotyping of a niche in the perception of superhero films in the eyes of the Academy. That is to say that as soon as a superhero movie comes across the Academy members, there is possibly a prejudicial response by most Academy members.
And of course, there are a substantial number of people in the Academy who are not very young and the fast-paced colourful movies are somewhat childish pieces of crafts for them.
