With a record setting weekend nearly complete, it’s time to seriously discuss the next portion of the remarkable journey of “Black Panther” to the big screen: awards season and the 91st Academy Awards.
Currently “Black Panther” has a sterling 87 on Metacritic, the best representation of critical accolades online (sorry Rotten Tomatoes, but positive or negative doesn’t cut it). For comparison’s sake, let’s look at the Metacritic grades of this year’s Oscar Best Picture nominees.
“Dunkirk” (94)
“Lady Bird” (94)
“Call Me By Your Name” (93)
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (87)
Wait…we can stop there.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Ryan Coogler’s epic currently has a critical reception higher than five of this year’s Best Picture contenders. In fact, it has a grade higher than or equal to the three films battling for Best Picture: “Shape of Water” (86), “Get Out” (84) and “Three Billboards.” And for fun’s sake, let’s compare “Black Panther’s” reception to some of the more critically acclaimed superhero movies. One of the key reasons the Best Picture field expanded to up to 10 nominees after a jawdropping snub? Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” earned an 82. Best Adapted Screenplay nominee “Logan”? A 77. PGA and WGA nominee “Deadpool”? A 65. Cultural zeitgeist “Wonder Woman”? A 76. And the highest Marvel Studios film before “Panther”? “Thor: Ragarok” at 74. Needless to say “Black Panther” has not landed with critics like your typical superhero movie.
Daniel Kaluuya on that “Get Out” Oscar nomination and “Black Panther”
Granted, after all the accolades “Panther” is still a Marvel movie and the Academy, in particular, will see it as such. There has been no costumed hero film of this particular kind that has ever come close to earning the Academy’s top recognition. And, an increasingly diverse membership or not, there will be many members adverse to voting it into the Best Picture club. That being said, only a specific number of first place votes are needed to earn a Best Picture nomination. If Marvel and Disney can wage a significant campaign that shouldn’t be a problem (Although it’s ignorant to ignore the fact that the reception to “Avengers: Infinity War,” which includes Black Panther as a central character, could diminish it’s standing. We’re slightly convinced “Justice League” hurt “Wonder Woman” with the guilds). Again, first place votes are all they need and the Marvel Studios “family” has grown so big it now counts at least 100 Academy members in its midst. That’s a great place to start.
Disney can also look Universal’s playbook for “Get Out.” The studio did an absolutely superb job with both its phase one and (likely) phase two campaigns a movie that also arrived in theaters in February and wasn’t originally seen as a Best Picture player. Would a sneak at Sundance, where Coogler first made his name, have helped provide some necessary prestige? It certainly was a huge boon to Jordan Peele‘s breakthrough, but that’s in the past. At this point, Disney and Marvel’s award strategy will need to focus on the reviews and, like “Wonder Woman,” it’s cultural relevance both here and abroad. That’s a story that will continue unfold in the weeks to come, but the studios planning and strategy will need to be sound even before the traditional campaign kick off just six months from now.
Obviously, there may also be snags along the way. The rest of the 2019 awards season forecast is unclear and the Academy and guilds may be swayed by other players that enter the mix. But nominations in other categories are also likely thanks to the Oscar accomplishments of “The Dark Knight,” “District 9,” “Logan” and others. Let’s review, shall we?