Marvel Studios’ filmography being overlooked for Academy Awards doesn’t faze chief Kevin Feige, who’s content with overwhelming positive fan response to the studios’ output.
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“Maybe it’s easy to dismiss VFX or flying people or spaceships or billion dollar grosses. I think it is easy to say that you have already been awarded in a certain way,” Feige said during Saturday’s Produced By conference (via THR).
Awards for Black Panther was never a goal, said Feige, who also spoke on the importance of the Ryan Coogler-directed movie and how it destroyed myths about Black movies. The film earned over $1.3 billion worldwide and is the best-received Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes.
“[Alfred] Hitchcock never won best director, so it’s very nice, but it doesn’t mean everything,” Feige said. “I would much rather be in a room full of engaged fans.”
Feige’s comments come as Avengers: Infinity War nears $2 billion at the worldwide box office — a rare feat, accomplished so far only by James Cameron’s Avatar and Titanic and Disney’s own Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Marvel’s Infinity War is already the fourth-highest grossing film of all time.
Suicide Squad, the bad guy-starring spinoff from chief rival DC Films, won Warner Bros. an Academy Award for Best Makeup & Hair Styling in February 2017, making it the only Academy Award-winning film among both the MCU and DCEU offerings.
Marvel Studios has earned multiple nominations for Best Visual Effects, and all but two of their nominations have come in this category.
Iron Man earned both a Best Achievement in Visual Effects nomination as well as a Best Achievement in Sound Editing nom, while Guardians of the Galaxy earned nominations for both Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
A comic book movie hasn’t been awarded the Oscar for Best Visual Effects since Spider-Man 2 in 2004, long before Marvel Studios reignited the superhero and shared universe craze with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As commentators ponder the possibility of Black Panther earning Academy Award recognition in more than just the visual effects category, The Dark Knight and Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan is among the rare few to express beliefs the blockbuster could receive a nod for Best Picture.
Black Panther could be nominated for — and potentially win — an Oscar for its costume design, as the film features more than 700 costumes that fused futurism, indigenous dress, and high fashion that highlighted multiple real-life cultures.
In November, the Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first-ever franchise to cross $5 billion at the domestic box office — a number that has only increased since the debuts of Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. The studio next releases Ant-Man and the Wasp July 6.
