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SYFY WIRE Oscars

Oscar nominations 2019: Black Panther becomes first-ever superhero movie to go for Best Picture

By Josh Weiss
Oscars Academy Awards golden statues

The nominees for the 91st Oscars were announced this morning, and the best genre films of 2018 were, thankfully, not left out in the proverbial cold.

While snubbed pretty hard at the Golden Globes, Marvel Studios' Black Panther and Disney's Mary Poppins Returns will get a chance to redeem themselves at this year's Academy Awards. However, it's only Black Panther that will try to claw its way toward Best Picture, the first-ever superhero movie to be nominated for the top prize. If it wins, it will be the second year in a row that a genre feature took home Best Picture— last year, The Shape of Water took home the coveted and prestigious award.

Both Panther and Poppins snagged nods for Achievement in Costume Design (Ruth Carter and Sandy Powell), Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson and Marc Shaiman), Best Production Design (Hannah Beachler and John Myhre), and Best Original Song ("All the Stars" and "The Place Where Lost Things Go").

Genre fare did well in the technical categories, as it usually does. Black Panther and First Man (another Production Design hopeful) were recognized for Achievement in Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. A Quiet Place is also a contender in the latter category; no surprises there, as the film's entire premise is predicated on sound.

The Achievement in Visual Effects category was nothing but sci-fi features (aside from one scientific biopic): Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War, Universal's First Man, Disney's Christopher Robin, Warner Bros.' Ready Player One, and Lucasfilm's Solo: A Star Wars Story.

There were no incredible surprises in the category for Best Animated Feature: Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Given Spider-Verse's track record on the awards season circuit thus far, it is the favorite for Oscar gold, not an easy feat with two Disney films on the docket.

The 91st Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 24 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. As usual, ABC will be televising the live event at 8PM EST.

For a full list of the nominees, click here.