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The King of Wakanda Holds the Oscars' First Best Picture Nod for a Superhero Film

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All hail the once and future king of Wakanda. Black Panther has now made Academy Awards history as the first superhero or comic book film nominated for Best Picture. And that’s not the only award the blockbuster Marvel film is gunning for at the 2019 Oscars.

The Academy has released its list of nominations for the 2019 Academy Awards and Marvel’s Black Panther has received a whopping seven nominations including Best Picture, Production Design, and Costuming. That makes Black Panther the first superhero film ever to be nominated for Best Picture—and Marvel’s first female production designer, Black Panther’s Hannah Beachler, has also made history as the first African-American person nominated for Best Production Design. The film now holds the second-most Oscar nominations for a superhero or comic book film—10 years ago, The Dark Knight received eight nominations and won two, including Best Supporting Actor for the late Heath Ledger.

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Sadly, Black Panther wasn’t nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (a recognition it certainly deserved), despite that being a category Suicide Squad won back in 2017. It also wasn’t nominated for Best Visual Effects—despite Marvel’s now-deleted tweet claiming otherwise (Avenger: Infinity War was nominated in that category). Whoopsie.

Elsewhere, Golden Globe winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was nominated for Best Animated Film, alongside Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. A Quiet Place got a nomination for Best Sound Design, which is surprising but strangely appropriate. Mary Poppins Returns, which received several nominations at the Golden Globes, was largely snubbed this time around, being ignored for Best Picture and only garnering a few nominations—none of which were for acting or writing. Another notable snub belongs to women behind the scenes. This was yet another year with no women were nominated for Best Director or Best Cinematography. Also, none of the films nominated for Best Picture were directed by women. Again.

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Despite that annual setback, it was a good year for Black Panther, Spider-Man, and superhero films everywhere—especially following that disastrous and since-canceled Best Popular Film category, which some took to believe was going to be a way to keep blockbuster films out of the more “prestigious” categories. Of course, being nominated doesn’t mean it will win, and the likelihood of that actually happening is pretty damn slim. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst friends.

Here’s the full list of nominees this year:

Best Picture

Black Panther
BlakkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

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Best Actress in a Leading Role

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me

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Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me
Sam Rockwell, Vice

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Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Vice
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Marina De Tavira, Roma
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

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Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star is Born

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Best Writing, Original Screenplay

The Favourite
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
Vice

Best Animated Film

Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

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Best Cinematography

Cold War
The Favourite
Never Look Away
Roma
A Star is Born

Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots

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Makeup and Hairstyling

Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Adam McKay, Vice
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War

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Production Design

Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

Film Editing

BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice

Visual Effects

Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story

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Best Original Score

Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns

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Best Original Song

“All the Stars,” Black Panther
“I’ll Fight,” RBG
“The Place Where the Lost Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow,” A Star is Born
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

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Sound Editing

Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma

Sound Mixing

Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star is Born

Best Feature-Length Documentary

Free Solo
Hale Country This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG

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Best Short-Length Documentary

Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence

Best Foreign Language Film

Capernaum
Cold War
Never Look Away
Roma
Shoplifters

Best Animated Short Film

Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

Best Live-Action Short Film

Detainment
Fauve
Margueritte
Mother
Skin

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