Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar?

Spider-Man: No Way Home hit the theaters on December 16, 2021, and it instantly swept the entire year’s competition in box office revenue. As much as fans enjoyed the movie, it seems that the critics enjoyed the movie even more. So much so, some believe it should be considered for the Best Picture Academy Award. So, could Spider-Man: No Way Home win an Oscar?

Spider-Man: No Way Home could win an Oscar in the upcoming Academy Awards Ceremony. However, seeing how overlooked superhero movies get in the Best Picture category, it’s highly unlikely the movie will be nominated in that category. Visual Effects or Best Score are more realistic.

Still, even if they don’t get nominated for Best Picture – and I strongly believe it should be for several reasons – there’s a huge possibility we’ll see a handful of nominations for the MCU blockbuster in other categories. Let’s play the guessing game a bit and see what it might be.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar for Best Picture?

As I mentioned before, superhero movies hardly ever get any consideration for the Best Picture Academy Award Nomination. Regardless of how highly praised the movie is by critics and the audience, it seems like the genre is just not as appreciated as other science fiction or high fantasy.

The only exceptions to the rule so far are The Dark Knight (2008), Black Panther (2018), and Joker (2019), so even if Spider-Man: No Way Home receives a nomination for Best Picture, it would be a colossal accomplishment. Still, I believe some amazing films this year deserve to win the award more, but No Way Home definitely deserves to be nominated.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar for Visual Effects?

No movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever got the Academy Award for Visual Effects. Black Panther was nominated back in 2018, but Blade Runner 2049 took the Oscar that year. Not even masterpieces such as Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame got the award.

However, I believe that the VFX team outdid themselves this time, and we might get the first MCU Visual Effects Oscar with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Of course, not even the nominations have been announced yet, but the film was incredibly well put-together visually. Although David Villeneuve’s Dune is the VFX favorite, my money is on No Way Home.

The multiversal cracks, the Sandman’s storms, Strange’s magic, the Mirror Dimension – the Visuals were nothing short of spectacular, and I believe the biggest chance No Way Home has at winning an Oscar is in this category.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar for Best Score?

Black Panther had won three Oscars in total, one of which was for the Best Score. It was a spectacular blend between modern music, classic orchestral suspense, and traditional African tones, deserving of winning the Academy Award.

Spider-Man: No Way Homa had Michael Giacchino creating the original music while the sound mix is courtesy of Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos. Although I genuinely enjoyed the movie score, I don’t think it will even be recognized as Black Panther was. I think it’s highly unlikely it would happen.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar for Best Costume Design?

Spider-Man: No Way Home featured a ton of characters, which means the lead costume designer, Sanja Milkovic Hays, had a whole lot of work to do. However, just as was the case with the score, I don’t think No Way Home can replicate Black Panther’s success in the category.

The costume design for Black Panther was much less of a superhero attire assembly and much more of a celebration of African tradition and indigenous folk clothing. No Way Home lacks historical significance to probably even be considered. I’d reckon that MCU’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has a better chance to get a nod in this category.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win an Oscar for Acting?

There’s not a chance that the Academy will ever give the Oscar for a lead role to a lead in a superhero movie – except for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, but it wasn’t that much of a superhero movie as one would expect. However, it wouldn’t be the first time that a supporting role from a superhero movie gets an Academy Award.

Heath Ledger also got the award posthumously for his depiction of Joker in The Dark Knight. That performance was as iconic as any other in movie history, and I don’t think Andrew Garfield was anywhere close to that in No Way Home.

(SPOILERS) However, I loved his performance and the complete character arc from start to finish – especially the gem of an emotional redemption when he saved MJ from falling to her death when Tom Holland’s Peter was incapacitated to do so.

Also, I truly believe Garfield will be nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role category for his performance in the Tick Tick Boom musical, too. Here’s to hoping he wins at least in one of the categories.

Even if Willem Dafoe gets a Supporting Role Nomination for No Way Home, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Could Spider-Man: No Way Home Win Any Other Oscar?

Spider-Man: No Way Home could potentially get a nomination for the Best Production Design, too, seeing how incredibly successful the film is and that other MCU films were already nominated in the same category before.

I’d love to finally see a nomination for the Best Adapted Screenplay because the film is so incredibly well-written that it just sucks you in. It’s highly unlikely it will happen, but if you ask me, Erik Sommers deserves so much praise for his writing on this film. It took guts to take three Spider-Man eras and join him into such a masterful fan-pleaser of a movie.

We might be looking at several more lower-grade Oscar nominations, but I’m almost sure that there will be at least a couple of nods for one of the best MCU movies ever created.