3 Reasons Why Marvel and DC Movies Struggle to Win Oscars
It is no surprise that we are all inclined towards superhero movies compared to other genres of the cinema and superheroes from Marvel and DC comics including Captain America, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, Thor, and many more have managed to not only set up their loyal fan base across the world but the actors who play these superhero characters on-screen have garnered the attention and love from the critics and the audience for portraying their favorite characters on-screen with finesse. Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Iron Man in the MCU is one such example.
Superhero movies may be fictional but the emotions showcased in them are very real and can be felt by the individuals to their core which is one of the reasons why people like this genre of movies and seemingly find them attached to them. But have you wondered why your favorite superhero movie does not qualify for an Academy Award? Let’s find out three major reasons why Marvel and DC movies struggle to win an Academy Award even after performing exceptionally well at the box office.
1. Marvel and DC movies are ‘money makers’ not ‘award winners’
One of the reasons why these superhero movies from Marvel Studios and DC Studios struggle to win an Academy Award is because it is believed that these superhero movies that earn a good sum of fortune at the box office and for the studios are only made for money making and not for winning awards.
It has been witnessed over the years that these superhero movies that the audiences admire and love to watch on-screen are not meant for awards in categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, etc., but they somehow make it to the categories including Best Visual Effect, Sound Editing or Cinematography.
The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences has always preferred to award movies that showcase drama, historical epics, and art-house movies; the set of movies that are regarded as more serious or significant movies. According to Action Figure Geek, the history of the Academy Awards showcases that they lack in recognizing the movies whose sole purpose is to entertain people and sometimes these movies act as an escape for the audience.
2. Marvel and DC movies’ reliance on CGI
Another reason that has been pointed out by fans who are waiting for their superhero movies to receive the same respect and recognition the way the ‘artsy’ movies do; is superhero movies’ reliance on computer-generated imagery. The use of CGI to ‘create art’ is regarded as a negative point by the Academy which believes that to create art, filmmakers should be using the advanced technology in the minimum way.
But to film action sequences or some extravagant scene in their respective movie, it is very obvious that Marvel and DC studios require CGI & special effects for those scenes which according to the Academy makes these movies less real compared to the movies that have won a major award at the Academy have always showcased some level of realness in their movies which has connected with the audience instantly.
In a nutshell, the reliability factor in Marvel and DC movies because of CGI and special effects is comparatively less, which is why they struggle to win major category awards at the Academy.
3. Marvel and DC movies lack intensity
Very surprisingly, it is also one of the reasons why Marvel and DC movies have struggled to win major Academy Awards even though they are quite successful and popular. The superhero movies that are mostly based on comic books are said to lack intensity or depth when compared to movies that are nominated for awards and the ones that have won till now.
The characters in these superhero movies are regarded as ‘vanilla’, which simply means that the intensity is missing and the Academy likes the drama. Actors, Joaquin Phoenix who won the Best Actor award for Joker in 2020, and late actor Heath Ledger who posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight are exceptions because these portrayals weren’t just these actors portraying a character on-screen but their screen presence was so strong that it almost depicted, ‘Look at me’.
Even though Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man has layers of intensity, the character is not as strong as Phoenix and Ledger’s Joker. Marvel Studio’s Kevin Feige had shared with THR via GamesRant about why he thinks that superhero movies will not win an Academy Award;
“I think we are always at a deficit because of the Marvel logo and because of a genre bias that certainly exists.”
2018’s Black Panther was the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards 2019 unfortunately did not win. The following year, Joker was also nominated for Best Picture but it was Parasite who won.
