The 2022 Oscar nominations are in, and surprises and snubs abound like every Oscar season. One not-so-surprise but still slightly disappointing for fans is that Spider-Man: No Way Home failed to clinch the Best Picture nomination.
Fans of Spider-Man: No Way Home hoped for a miracle as the film can be viewed as having a significant cultural impact, which is one of the requirements for a Best Picture nomination. The Marvel title tied three generations of Spider-Men and their villains together, finishing a twenty-year arc of the iconic character. They also hoped that the Academy would recognize it for reinvigorating movie theater attendance in post-pandemic times.
It was not impossible as Black Panther earned a Best Picture nomination in the 2019 Oscars, nearly a year after its February 2018 release. That film earned its nomination as a cultural landmark as the first black-led Marvel film and for its critical acclaim. It was also honored for its costume design and original score.
The third installment in Tom Holland’s superhero trilogy will compete in the Best Visual Effects category along with fellow Marvel title Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
A superhero movie not getting the Best Picture nomination is not new. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) was snubbed for Best Picture, causing such a massive outcry from fans that the Academy expanded the nominees from five to ten.
In December, Marvel boss Kevin Feige told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about his long-shot mission: “It’s a good thing when people are in a theater, and they stand up and cheer. It’s a good thing when people are wiping tears because they’re thinking back on their last 20 years of moviegoing and what it has meant to them. That, to me, is a very good thing — the sort of thing the Academy was founded, back in the day, to recognize.”
No Way Home actors did not miss out on nominations, though, as Andrew Garfield earned a best actor nomination for Tick, Tick … Boom!, while Benedict Cumberbatch earned his second-best actor nomination for The Power of the Dog. J. Jonah Jameson actor J.K. Simmons was nominated for a second time supporting actor category for Being the Ricardos.
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