The Official Oscar Campaign For Avengers: Endgame has Begun
Disney has officially launched its Oscar campaign for Avengers: Endgame, zeroing in on a slew of categories for their massive, globe-dominating mega-hit. Disney’s official For Your Consideration website details the categories they’re (currently) focused on. Superhero movies can and should be nominated for Best Picture if they’re good enough, as we learned last year when Ryan Coogler’s excellent Black Panther was nominated for Best Picture (as well as 6 other categories) and notched wins for Costume Design (the incomparable Ruth E. Carter), Original Score (Ludwig Göransson), and Production Design (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart).
For Endgame, Disney’s eyeing the following 12 categories: Best Picture, Best Director for Anthony and Joe Russo, Best Adapted Screenplay for Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Best Cinematography for Trent Opaloch, Best Original Score for Alan Silvestri, Best Film Editing for Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt, Best Production Design for Charles Wood and Tonja Schurmann, Best Costume Design for Judianna Makovsky, Best Makeup and Hairstyling for John Blake, Janine Thompson, and Brian Sipe, Best Sound Mixing for Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta, and John Pritchett, Best Sound Editing for Shannon Mills and Daniel Laurie, and Best Visual Effects for Dan DeLeeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick.
While that’s a very solid showing of talent, it’s somewhat surprising that Robert Downey Jr.’s name isn’t amongst these folks for his final, emotional performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Considering Downey Jr. is the man who helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe by bringing his singular comedic timing and gravitas to 2008’s Iron Man, and the emotional heavy lifting he had to do in Endgame, one would be excused for assuming he’d be in this mix. Perhaps he’ll be included at some point, but for now, the above is who Disney is pushing for.
Endgame was a monumental achievement, and there’s no doubt it’s deserving of a big haul of nominations. It’ll be interesting to see how Academy members see the film, which bested Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Featured image: Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME. L to R: Captain America (Chris Evans) in b/g Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). Photo: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2019
