The 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Awards Nominees for Movies

We are coming to the end of 2023, and that means it’s time to reflect on the year behind us — especially what the year brought to the world of film. In many respects, 2023 was a year like none other, with some unexpected winners at the box office, and some major cultural moments thanks to the movies and characters on the big screen. Not to mention, the writers’ and actors’ strikes that, for a time, disrupted Hollywood and sparked conversations about the future of entertainment as we know it. In the end, 2023 has proven to be a wildly unpredictable, but richly entertaining year when it comes to movies, with offerings crossing every genre imaginable.

As part of ComicBook.com‘s annual Golden Issue Awards — an event where our staff votes on some of the best and most exciting projects to debut in the past 12 months — we’re looking back at the biggest and most influential films of 2023. Crossing everything from comic book movies, to historical dramas, to noteworthy performances, to even post-credit scenes that offered up big surprises, there was a lot that kept moviegoers on the edges of their seats this year.

Read on to see this year’s list of nominees and be sure to check back with ComicBook.com next week for a full breakdown of the winners!

Best Movie

There’s no denying 2023 was a big year for movies across the board with the arrival of long-awaited sequels, huge pop culture movies, and even some rich historical dramas as well. There truly was something for everyone on the big screen (and streaming) this year.

•    Avatar: The Way of Water

•    Barbie

•    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

•    Killers of the Flower Moon

•    Oppenheimer

Best Comic Book Movie

DC and Marvel both offered fans new films this year, introducing new characters, concluding stories for others, and even offering new chapters and adventures for the future. But there were other offerings as well, including adaptations of other beloved works outside of the “superhero” genre.

•    Blue Beetle

•    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

•    The Marvels

•    Nimona

•    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One

Best Animated Movie

Animation continues to not only bring heartfelt stories to the screen, but truly push the limits of the imagination in 2023. This year saw beloved characters get reimagined in fun new stories, while whole new worlds were created and brought to life, reminding viewers that anything is possible if one only dreams.

•    Elemental

•    Nimona

•    The Super Mario Bros. Movie

•    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

•    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Best Director

The films in 2023 told some big, creative stories and there were some truly fantastic directors at the helm of those stories. Taking on everything from beloved games and superheroes, to stories of generational trauma, to even (somehow) making a doll a deeply relatable character, this year’s nominees took viewers on journeys that were unexpected and unforgettable — and absolutely worth going on.

•    Nia DaCosta, The Marvels

•    John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

•    Greta Gerwig, Barbie

•    James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

•    Michael B. Jordan, Creed III

Best Male Character

Unlikely heroes, bards, a talking raccoon, and a guy who only has a good day if Barbie notices him. The male characters that came to life on screen this year covered a wide, and unlikely, range. Not only were the characters themselves great, but they had some truly great performances by the actors inhabiting them. This year’s nominees are funny, serious, heartfelt, and film wouldn’t have been the same without them.

•    Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

•    Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle (Xolo Maridueña, Blue Beetle)

•    Ken (Ryan Gosling, Barbie)

•    Miles Morales (Shameik Moore, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

•    Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Best Female Character

2023 was a great year for female characters, delivering heroines with complex stories and challenging journeys that took viewers to the depths of the sea, to the stars, and beyond. But each still felt deeply grounded in the human experience, in part because indelible performances were behind those characters, leaving audiences talking long after the credits rolled.

•    Ariel (Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid)

•    Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, The Marvels)

•    Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani, The Marvels)

•    Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz, Nimona)

•    Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie, Barbie)

Best Villain

Everyone loves a bad guy — but they’re also kind of important to the story, and this year we had some memorable ones in film. This year’s nominees cover all the bases when it comes to a solid villain, with plenty of scheming, and even some mad science, going on. But what truly makes these villains the best at being bad are the performances behind them.

•    Dante (Jason Momoa, Fast X)

•    Gabriel (Esai Morales, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One)

•    The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

•    Miguel O’Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

•    Super-Fly (Ice Cube, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem)

Best Scene-Stealer

Sometimes, the most memorable character in a movie isn’t the hero or the villain, but it’s a character you just didn’t see coming. That’s right, it’s the scene-stealer. This year’s movies had a feast of characters who made us laugh or just plain hit us with the unexpected. They brought something just a little something extra to the movie — even if the movie wasn’t even about them in the first place.

•    Adam Warlock (Will Poulter, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

•    Hobie Brown / Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

•    Shimazu Akira (Rina Sawayama, John Wick: Chapter 4)

•    Xenk (Rege-Jean Page, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

•    Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon, Barbie)

Best Post-Credits Scene

You know the drill by now: stick around through the credits. Your patience is (almost) always rewarded with just a little something extra, be it a funny bit from a much-loved character, or an outright tease of something more to come. Post-credit scenes are the cherry on top of the whole movie experience, and 2023’s did not disappoint.

•    Blue Beetle

•    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

•    Fast X

•    John Wick: Chapter 4

•    The Marvels