The debate regarding superheroes at the Oscars continues after The Flash Scene wins the Oscars Cheer Moment.
Superheroes and the Oscars have never been on the same side. And it was Spider-Man: No Way Home that sparked the debate as to why superhero movies wouldn’t go to the Oscars. The Flash scene from Snyder’s Justice League winning the Oscars Cheer Moment sparked a debate among fans on social media. But is this a sign of superheroes slowly making their way to the black lady?
Watch: Flash Speed Force Scene – Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Many prolific directors like Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Francis Ford Coppola, Ken Loach, and Jane Campeon have all revealed their distaste and disgust for superhero movies. This in turn adds the movies to a no-show list for the Oscars. At this point, a very important question arises: What makes for a good film?
There are lots of things but surely one of them is the feeling it gives to the audience; one that makes them look up to the grandeur that is cinema. And if this is the case then Spider-Man: No Way Home does make for Oscar-worthy praise. However, the first movie that belonged to a superhero universe and gave us major Oscar vibes was Avengers: Endgame. Yet, it got only one nomination and that was for Best Visual Effects. Fast-forward two years and here we are in a more heated debate about superhero movies and Oscars.
Marvel’s Oscar Campaign
With the trust and support from its fans, Marvel decided to push all its 2021 movies for the Oscars. These include Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even Black Widow. Seriously? Black Widow too? Anyways, none of these made it. However, we have to hand it to Marvel for kick-starting the movement of superheroes for the Oscars.
It seems to be one of the reasons why The Academy decided to add two more categories to its list, namely Oscars Cheer Moment and Oscars Fan Favorite. Fans got to vote for their favorite scene that made them cheer to the top of their voices. They could do this by going to the Oscars website or by using #OscarsFanFavorite and #OscarsCheerMoment hashtags to cast their vote. While the Oscars Fan Favorite movie went to Zach Snyder’s Army of the Dead, it was the winner of the Oscars Cheer Moment that took everyone by surprise and some by shock.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Bombs at the Oscars
Spider-Man: No Way Home received only one nomination in the Best Visual Effects category, the same as Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Despite all the campaign, the Academy didn’t find the movie worthy of more than the obvious nomination. It seems that superheroes still have a long way to go before reaching out to the Oscars.
The Flash Runs With the Oscar
The Flash Speed-Force scene won the Oscars Cheer Moment. The DC fandom is certainly an unstoppable bunch and for them to push The Flash scene for the number one spot wasn’t unusual. They made the production house release the Snyder Cut. So we can very well understand their persistence and might.
Neo’s bullet dodge in slow-mo in Matrix came fifth followed by Effie singing “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” in Dreamgirls in fourth. Captain Steve Rogers “Avengers Assemble” cry in Endgame came third. The Spider-Man trio team up in Spider-Man: No Way Home ranked second.
The Acceptance
Marvel fans, as expected, were not at all happy with the decision and Twitter was filled with memes and backlashes. But the fact remains that it is the voting that counts and clearly more people voted for The Flash scene than the Spider-Man team-up scene. Spider-Man: No Way Home may have collected more than $1.8 billion but it’s not the collection that counts but the votes. And let’s just admit that Snyder’s Cut was a great film.
Also, let’s not forget that DC has garnered multiple Oscars, including Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Best Actor, for Heath Ledger as Joker in The Dark Knight (2009) and Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in Joker (2020), respectively. So, if we count Oscars, DC is way more ahead of Marvel.
The Bigger Picture
If we are to look at the bigger picture, all that happened only takes superheroes nearer to the Academy even if a little bit. All the campaigns and the Snyder Cut winning the Oscar Moment must have shown the Academy that there is a plus in adding superhero movies to their list of nominations.
However, it is important to note that Twitter polls are merely conducted to increase engagement. They do not at all count as honors. If Marvel or DC wants to campaign for the Oscars, they have to try harder to become a part of the bloated tradeshow that the Oscars are for real. Inversely, the Oscars should also bring superhero movies in if they want to become more coherent and entertaining.
