After years of conversation and public statements from directors like Chad Stahelski, the Academy Awards are finally incorporating a category recognizing superb stunt work. The Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design will become an annual fixture of the Academy Awards with the 100th Academy Awards in 2028. That means films in 2027 will be the first in history to compete for stunts at the Oscars. Given that so many of the biggest movies of the year incorporate heavy amounts of stunt work, expect this category to feature superhero and sci-fi blockbusters that the Oscars have been constantly trying to highlight over the last decade.
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Though it’ll be just under three years before viewers get to finally see this Oscar category, the mind reels at the possibilities of what could be nominated in this category. More specifically, there’s already some Marvel and DC movie adaptations scheduled for 2027 that could easily become the first movies to win the Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design.
What Marvel and DC Films Are Poised to Launch in 2027?
Most of the 2027 schedule is still populated with titles like “Untitled Universal Event Film” and “Untitled Warner Bros. Event Film,” a reflection of how this year’s theatrical cinema slate is still very much in flux. However, Avengers: Secret Wars is already firmly scheduled for a May 7, 2027 launch. If that film gets great critical reception and especially garners acclaim for its stunt work, Secret Wars could be a way for the Academy to give the Avengers franchise its first Oscar. Never underestimate Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, even in award season.
Five months after Secret Wars, Warner Bros. will launch The Batman: Part II. The first Matt Reeves Batman movie secured acclaim for its grounded action sequences and well-shot skirmishes, including an iconic car chase between Robert Pattinson’s Batman and Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin. If Reeves ups the ante for the follow-up, it may secure a Best Stunts Oscar – possibly Best Makeup as well, if we get more actor transformations like Farrell’s Oz Cobb. It doesn’t hurt that The Batman: Part II is opening in October, right in the heart of award season. That could make this title more prevalent on the minds of Oscar voters.
While it doesn’t have an official date yet, the DC Universe title Sgt. Rock appears to be gearing up for a 2027 bow (perhaps in that March 5, 2027, date Warner Bros. has set aside for an unknown DC Comics feature). That grounded war movie could follow in the footsteps of All Quiet on the Western Front and 1917 in being war movies that the Oscars shower with trophies. Among other 2027 tentpoles that could make a run for the Stunts Oscar, an Untitled Star Wars Movie is set for a December 17, 2027 release, while Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is also set for a December 2027 launch.
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Either of those could make history in this category. Don’t discount The Legend of Zelda either, especially since The Last of Us securing Emmy gold proved major award shows won’t avoid live-action video game adaptations. However, even with so many prolific 2027 blockbusters on the horizon, it’s quite likely that the first Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design will go to something much smaller in scope.
The Stunts Oscar Could Continue The Academy’s Resurging Indie Cinema Love
Anora winning the Best Picture Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards solidified how the Oscars have trended towards more unorthodox indie winners in the last decade. Bolstering the ceremony’s voting base to include more global artists – not to mention the decline of mid-budget major studio dramas – has ensured a wave of exciting smaller films has dominated the Oscars in recent years. Everything Everywhere All At Once, Nomadland, Parasite, Anora, these have all expanded the definition of what a Best Picture Oscar winner “looks like.” More eclectic victors in categories like Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects have also reflected promising changes in Oscar norms.
With that in mind, it’s quite likely that the first Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design won’t just go to something smaller that isn’t on the release schedule yet, but a foreign language title that flies under the radar for most of 2027. If this category had been implemented in time to recognize 2024 cinema, for instance, there’s a good chance excellent titles like Kill or Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In could’ve secured nominations or even a win.
Now that the Oscars are finally letting in smaller movies to the biggest categories, it’s not a foregone conclusion that massive 2027 blockbusters like The Batman: Part II or Avengers: Secret Wars will win this Oscar. Granted, if Oscar voters follow the “most = best” rule that other Oscar categories like Best Editing or Best Costume Design often adhere to, then maybe the deluge of explosions and punches in these 2027 superhero movies will be enough to reign victorious in this fresh Oscar category. However, the last few years of Academy Award ceremonies suggest that the inaugural Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design isn’t all wrapped up for titles like The Batman: Part II just yet.
Avengers: Secret Wars hits theaters on May 7, 2027, The Batman: Part II hits theaters on October 1, 2027.
