Marvel Studios secured its first-ever Oscar nomination for an actor, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Angela Bassett nominated for Best Supporting Actress. This is a big deal for the Marvel film, and shows just how much has changed in the eyes of The Academy that an actor’s performance in a comic book movie is worthy enough to be nominated. Bassett portrayed Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the mother figure for T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman) and Shuri (Letitia Wright). She gave a thrilling performance considering the circumstances of the production having to carry on in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever totaled five nominations for the 95th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, Best Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Visual Effects. Angela Bassett previously had a Best Actress nomination for her performance as Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It.
Angela Bassett’s Awards and Nominations for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Along with her Oscar nomination, Angela Bassett also won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for her directorial debut of the Whitney Houston biopic Whitney and directed episodes in the popular horror anthology series American Horror Story.
The goal of the Distinguished Artisan Award is to celebrate the prolific spectrum of Bassett’s versatile career on screen and television, celebrating talent that has created memorable characters throughout their career, richly enhanced by the consistent collaboration of make-up and hair styling artistry. Previous winners include Jon Favreau, Eddie Murphy, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Ryan Murphy, Dick Smith, Guillermo del Toro, Sir Patrick Stewart, Melissa McCarthy, and Gary Oldman.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Plot
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the leaders of the kingdom of Wakanda fight to protect their nation from invading forces in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, and a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan.
The film sees the return of Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, and Martin Freeman as Everett Ross. New cast members will include Tenoch Huerta as Namor, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Mabel Cadena as Namora, and Alex Livinalli as Attuma.
“I objected,” Bassett previously said of her Wakanda Forever storyline. “Yeah, I was like, ‘Ryan [Coogler], what are you doing? Why? You will rue the day! You will rue the demise of [Ramonda]. People are gonna be so upset.’ … He was like, ‘Angela, I know, I know, but look, to die is not really to die in this world. It doesn’t really have to mean that.’” Bassett said she felt better about the decision after thinking back on how all of the characters who “poofed” in Avengers: Endgame. The star has come to terms with the fact that she could always return. “All kinds of crazy things happen,” Bassett explained.
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