Spider-Man: No Way Home Doesn't Qualify for BAFTA Film Awards

The excitement surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home and overwhelmingly positive reception from fans and critics has seen some audiences hope the film could be recognized by prestigious awards organizations, but Deadline has confirmed that the film won't be in contention for any BAFTA Film Awards. The outlet notes that the reason it doesn't qualify for the 2022 festivities is reportedly due to Sony Pictures Entertainment not having made the film available for the BAFTA streaming platform made available to members. The first round of voting for this year's awards closed on January 3rd, with some theories believing Sony intentionally didn't upload the film as to maintain its theatrical exclusivity.

BAFTA shared the statement, "Spider-Man: No Way Home did not meet the eligibility criteria for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 and therefore did not qualify for entry. As outlined in our rulebook, all films must be made available to voting members on BAFTA View prior to Round One voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles and the film was not made available by the distributor."

Dating back to Iron Man, Marvel Studios films have regularly earned nominations for BAFTA awards, largely highlighting their visual effects. Of all the various annual awards celebrations, the BAFTAs typically set the expectation of what films become frontrunners and have the highest likelihood of winning big with other major organizations. Marvel Studios has also earned a number of Academy Awards nominations in the realm of visual effects, with Black Panther going on to earn more nominations than any other film from the studio. The film ended up taking home the Oscar for Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. Black Panther also marked the studio's first nomination for Best Picture.

Recent years have seen a number of discussions regarding the artistic merits of comic book films emerge, which had long been viewed as merely superficial escapism as opposed to sophisticated experiences that earn recognition from prestigious organizations. Adding some fuel to that fire was when Martin Scorsese mentioned not particularly enjoying superhero films and that he didn't personally consider them "cinema," sparking heated discussions among audiences and filmmakers to either support or refute those claims.

Spider-Man: No Way Home currently sits at 93% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

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