Is Black Panther Nominated for Any Oscars?

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Black Panther is one of the year’s buzziest films for many reasons.

The Marvel production delivers plenty of action-packed moments that’ll be stuck in your mind for weeks and people are head-over-heels in love with it. And as one of the only superhero films to feature a black lead and an almost entirely black cast, it marks a major milestone. The film has received a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the site's highest-rated superhero movie of all time.

So is it nominated for an Oscar?

Well, it’s actually not allowed.

According to the official Academy Awards rulebook, films considered for the awards show each winter must be released the prior year. So all of the movies nominated for the 2018 Oscars, for example, came out between January 1 and Dec. 31 in 2017. Black Panther hit the box office on Feb. 16; therefore, it is not eligible for an Oscar on Sunday night. However, it can be eligible for an Oscar in 2019.

The film is likely to be nominated for several technical merits like cinematography, music, makeup and hairstyling, and production design, which many superhero movies often get the nod for. The Academy tends to favor films that have some sort of intellectual storyline, plus those that have a cast with majorly celebrated actors. Superhero movies don’t often get the nods for big awards like best picture. That being said, Black Panther has a strong message, and it follows similar footsteps of movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, Get Out, Moonlight—films that have previously received nominations.

We’re excited to see what accolades, if any, the movie gets in 2019.