Is it too early to get an #OscarsForBlackPanther Twitter campaign going?

With nearly $700 million made at the domestic office, Marvel’s Black Panther is still sitting comfortably as the year’s highest grossing film in the United States. Also, the film has been the subject of universal acclaim by fans and critics alike. With a rating of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, modern political themes such as colonialism and a promotional rollout that captured the zeitgeist, the film has more than exceeded everyone’s expectations. With that said, we have to address the elephant in the room: will the film make a bid for Oscar gold? Kevin Feige seems to have hinted so.

In an interview with Vox on Thursday, June 28, Marvel’s president hinted that a Black Panther Oscar campaign wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. “I think there are a lot of amazing artists that helped to make that movie, and it would be wonderful if they could be recognized,” Feige said. “Almost everyone involved in that movie, bringing that movie together, is great, and it would be wonderful to see if they’re recognized. We’ll see. This genre, typically not.”

Feige then heaped praise on the cast and crew who he thought was worthy of some nods, including actors Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o, as well as costume designer Ruth Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler. Feige also co-signed on Oscar nods for director Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the script with Joe Robert Cole.

Traditionally speaking, comic book films rarely receive the accolades they deserve at the Academy Awards. The Best Picture nod for Black Panther would mark the first time a superhero flick received such caliber. The fact that the film has a mostly black cast would make the Best Picture nomination all the more special, in large part due to the fact the Academy Awards have slighted films directed and told by black people, despite their critical acclaim. Prominent examples of egregious snubs at the Oscars include Eve’s Bayou, Creed, Mudbound and Straight Outta Compton.

Ruth Carter

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