Love them or loathe them, everyone has an opinion on superhero movies. For many legendary directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, they’re a scourge on cinema. But not every Hollywood legend hates them: Jaws and Indiana Jones director Steven Spielberg is an avid supporter. In fact, he believes that if Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight came out today, it would “definitely” get a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars!
Superhero movies have never cleaned up at the Oscars. There have, however, been a few notable moments. In 2019, the MCU’s Black Panther was famously nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture, becoming the first ever superhero movie to get Best Picture consideration. On the DC side of things, The Dark Knight won awards for Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger) and Achievement in Sound Editing. It received seven nominations in total, which was the superhero record until 2019’s Joker garnered 11 nominations.
Speaking to Deadline, Spielberg cited the recent Best Picture nominations of Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water as huge achievements for the industry. “I’m really encouraged by that,” he said. “It came late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. That movie would have definitely garnered a Best Picture Nomination today, so having these two blockbusters solidly presented on the top ten list is something we should all be celebrating.”
Unlike some Hollywood legends, Steven Spielberg has no problem with superhero movies
Having been a cinema legend for many decades, when Spielberg speaks, we listen. While he’s more than happy to see big budget blockbusters get Oscar recognition, he believes that we’ll see more adult films creep back into the forefront in the coming years. “I think it will come back, but it’s coming back slowly, especially for dramas,” he said. “ventually we’ll see more adult films doing decent numbers in movie theatres.”
Spielberg is currently seeing his first Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay, thanks to his work on The Fablemans.
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