The movie deserves a Best Picture nomination, which was only done once before with Black Panther, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It lost to Green Book, which inspired its star to ask if he could be Blade. No Way Home is a box office success and can be ignored come awards season. The Academy needs to stay connected to quality commerciality. Feige likened this movie to Return of the King, saying that it was a celebration of both the Homecoming trilogy and the five other Spider-Man incarnations that had happened before.
Feige said that the studio is always at a deficit because of the Academy's bias towards cape films and that there is a genre bias that exists. It is a sentiment that co-producer Amy Pascal shares with her friend, as she points out that all movies matter, even the ones with weird characters punching each other in them. She hopes that the Academy board will give the film its due because they grew up with the earlier Spidey films. It would be great for the Academy to recognize all kinds of movies. I hope that since there is a guaranteed 10 movies and there is a new membership, they will.
To help the process along, Sony and Marvel are planning on having an active For Your Consideration campaign, from adding No Way Home to the Academy's members-only streaming service, to targeted screenings and interviews that these pandemic times will allow. The Academy said no to the FYC campaign when it was nominated for visual effects, which it lost to 1917. It feels like they were hoping for Eternals to be their Oscar movie, but it didn't pan out, despite the pre-release buzz. With No Way Home being a box office smash, keeping movie theaters around for the holidays, and just plain delivering fans what they want, the two companies are now putting all their eggs in this basket.
Whether you think there is a bias against superhero movies at the Oscars, or not, the two studios may have bigger things to worry about. No Way Home is pretty good, but it isn't doing anything that hasn't been done outside of its genre within the past decade, and the fact that it exists pre-tethered to about ten other films doesn't do it any favors. No Way Home is about sacrifice and good, but it is mostly a movie that sells you something, either something you remembered fondly back in the day, or something that will hit in another couple.
We will find out in the coming months if the Academy will accept No Way Home as a nominee for a non-technical award. Do you think the movie is worthy of an Oscar?
The Hollywood Reporter.
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