Marvel Studios and Disney are very serious about Black Panther‘s Oscar prospects, make no mistake about it. A comprehensive and long-lasting campaign to convince the Academy that it deserves recognition is already underway, and though the awards ceremony rarely honors ‘genre’ pictures, the Mouse House is certainly hoping to change that.
But what about Avengers: Infinity War? Well, at first, it didn’t seem like Disney cared to showcase Joe and Anthony Russo’s event movie to end all event movies to the Academy. In fact, they initially only put it up for one Oscar nomination: Best Visual Effects. T’Challa’s solo outing, meanwhile, is hoping to score nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and 14 others.
But things have now changed. We’re not sure what, but in addition to Best Visual Effects, the studio’s also decided to give Infinity War a push in the following 10 categories:
- Best Director
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Film Editing
- Best Cinematography
- Best Production Design
- Best Costume Design
- Best Makeup & Hairstyling
- Best Sound Mixing
- Best Sound Editing
- Best Original Score
Though Infinity War was a fantastic movie, and a juggernaut at the box office, the cultural significance of Black Panther can’t be denied and you may even argue that it’s a better piece of work overall than what the Russo bothers offered. That being said, it’s still nice to see Disney giving the third Avengers film some more love as well and with any luck, it might just walk away with a few nods.
Even if it doesn’t, though, no one can deny what a stunning achievement it was, and the best part is that it’s not over yet, as its currently untitled sequel is on course to hit theaters in May. And if it’s even half as good as Avengers: Infinity War, we’re in for quite a ride.