Despite Marvel Studios and Sony launching a massive (and no doubt very expensive) promotion push to try and curry favor among voters, Spider-Man: No Way Home ended up with a single solitary nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards.
In an ironic twist of fate, the multiversal blockbuster is poised to do battle against fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe stablemate Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in the Best Visual Effects category, but there’s a high chance neither of them are going to win when Denis Villenueve’s Dune has already been singled out as the favorite.
Of course, there was very little chance No Way Home was ever going to make the shortlist for Best Picture or any of the acting categories, but it’s still become a hot topic of conversation on Twitter in the aftermath of the announcement.
There was already a mixture of scorn and derision being poured all over the very notion of a big, broad superhero spectacular being recognized as one of the year’s very best motion pictures, but even then, one sole nod for a technical prize is a lot less than even the most pessimistic of supporters were expecting.
Having earned $1.77 billion and counting at the box office, though, Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal at least have plenty of dollar bills in their pockets to wipe away the tears at being almost completely shut out.