Angela Bassett may be the first actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be the only MCU star to light up the stage at Hollywood’s biggest night.
Come Sunday, March 12, a total of ten MCU stars (that we know of) will walk the red carpet and take the main stage as either a presenter or the winner of their respective award. From films like Everything Everywhere All At Once to The Banshees of Inisherin, here is who you can look forward to seeing.
Angela Bassett
Anyone who saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever knows that Angela Bassett did the thing. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for performance as Queen Ramonda, should the two-time nominated actress snag the win, she will make history as the first Marvel actor to be recognized with an Oscar for their performance, a precedent that just might set the stage for future nominations.
Barry Keoghan
Sure, Eternals might not have been the best Marvel movie to come out of the last decade (in fact, some call it the worst), but its addition of Barry Keoghan to the MCU family was worth it. In the superhero film, he plays Druig, an immortal eternal with the power to manipulate people’s minds, among other abilities.
However, this year at the Oscars, Keoghan is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his dramatic performance as the troubled Irishman Dominic Kearney in The Banshees of Inisherin.
Brian Tyree Henry
Eternals was a bust, sure, but there’s no question it was packed with talent. Brian Tyree Henry, who played the openly gay eternal Phastos, is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the amputee James Aucoin in the Apple TV original Causeway. The movie has earned him some long-overdue praise for his talents, and although Ke Huy Quan is the front-runner for the category, Henry could just as easily step in for the win.
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett is one of those actresses who turns almost anything she touches into gold. Her portrayal of Thor’s sister and the Asgardian Goddess of Death, Hela has made her a living legend in the MCU world. Nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Tár, should Blanchett win the award for Best Actress, she’ll be tied with Meryl Streep for the most Academy Award wins and just one away from tying with Katharine Hepburn.
Glenn Close
Surely you remember which character Glenn Close played in the MCU, right? It was back in 2014 in Guardians of the Galaxy. She played Nova-Prime Irani Rael, the commander of the Nova Corps. The role wasn’t as large or memorable as, say, Blanchett’s but it served its purpose, and for Close, that purpose was admittedly just a paycheck, or so she once said at the 18th Nantucket Film Festival in 2013.
At this year’s Oscars ceremony, she’ll be taking the stage as one of many presenters hailing from the MCU franchise.
Jonathan Majors
Jonathan Majors is at the top of his game right now. Fresh off of his (regrettably underwhelming) cinematic debut as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Majors is also front and center in Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III, which was released just a week before this year’s Oscars.
He will be a presenter at this year’s ceremony. In fact, one of many MCU presenters.
Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan will join Jonathan Majors as a presenter at this year’s Oscars ceremony. Known by many in the MCU fandom as Killmonger from the first Black Panther movie, Jordan most recently made his directorial debut in Creed III, in which he also starred in.
Michelle Yeoh
It may surprise you to know that Michelle Yeoh has actually been in not one but two MCU movies. Her first appearance was as Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in which she played the leader of the Aleta Ravager Clan. Her second was her portrayal of Yin Nan, the aunt to Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
This year, Yeoh is nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The category is jam-packed with tremendous performances such as Cate Blanchett’s, but Yeoh is neck-and-neck as the front-runner.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson is an MCU star that needs no introduction, but we’ll give him one anyway. Having made his debut in 2008 with Iron Man, Jackson has since become famous for his portrayal as the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., founder of the Avengers, and grade-A spy, Nick Fury. Later this year he will bring the character to life once again in the Disney Plus series Secret Invasion, which will push him closer to almost a dozen and a half MCU projects in the last 15 years.
At this year’s Oscar ceremony, Jackson will take the stage as a presenter.
Zoë Saldana
Zoë Saldana is another MCU star that needs no introduction. When she’s not playing the blue-skinned Na’vi in James Cameron’s Avatar movies, she’s playing the green-skinned Zehoberei assassin and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Although she’s not nominated for an Oscar this year, she’ll be at the award show as a presenter on behalf of Avatar: The Way of Water, which is nominated for four awards including Best Picture.
The 95th Academy Awards premiere this Sunday on ABC at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Here’s how to tune in.