Black Panther Makes AFI’s Top Movies of 2018 List

That drumbeat you’re hearing is coming from Wakanda, and it’s signaling that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is a serious contender for an Oscar nomination for best picture. The prestigious American Film Institute has released the honorees for this year’s AFI Awards, and Black Panther is on their list for best films, the first in what we’re guessing will be a bunch of year-end awards for Coogler’s epic. The film school and historical organization, whose alumni include David Lynch, Terrence Malick, and Darren Aronofsky, voted on ten films and TV shows that represent “the year’s most outstanding achievements in the art of the moving image.” In the film category, Black Panther is joined by films like Barry Jenkins gorgeous, haunting If Beale Street Could Talk, Spike Lee’s sensational BlacKkKlansman, and Bo Burnham’s aching portrait of adolescence, Eighth GradeOn the TV side, The Americans, Atlanta , and Succession all made the list.

We’re already as sure as one can be about these things that Black Panther is going to rack up a slew of below-the-line nominations for folks like costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler, but AFI including the film on its “best of” list for 2018 is an indication that Coogler’s juggernaut has a very good shot of getting a best picture nom at the Oscars, a distinction usually withheld from superhero films.

Here’s the full list:

AFI Awards 2018 Movies of the Year

BlacKkKlansman

Black Panther

Eighth Grade

If Beale Street Could Talk

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Mary Poppins Returns

A Quiet Place

A Star is Born

TV Programs of the Year

The Americans

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

Atlanta

Barry

Better Call Saul

The Kominsky Method

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Pose

Succession

This Is Us

Featured image: Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER. L to R: Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) and T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). Ph: Matt Kennedy. ©Marvel Studios 2018

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Bryan Abrams

Bryan Abrams is the Editor-in-chief of The Credits. He's run the site since its launch in 2012. He lives in New York.