For more than a decade now, Marvel Studios films have dominated the box office. They’ve even (mostly) earned rave reviews from just about every critic. And yet, outside of the rare technical category nomination, the Academy Awards have snubbed the superhero film studio. That is, until “Black Panther” earned seven nominations a few years ago. As Marvel Studios gears up its promotion of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” for awards consideration this year, Kevin Feige feels like it’s always going to be an uphill battle because of the logo that accompanies the film.
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Speaking to THR, Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, talked about why he hopes “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” gets recognized by the awards voting bodies this year. But he also understands that it’s difficult for the superhero film genre to earn awards.
“I think we are always at a deficit because of the Marvel logo and because of a genre bias that certainly exists,” said Feige. “I just loved that for a shining moment there with ‘Black Panther’ that was put aside and the work was recognized for the achievement that it was.”
He added, “There are a lot of comic fans that didn’t know who Shang-Chi was. And yet the work that Destin [Daniel Cretton, director] did and Dave [Callaham, screenwriter] did and Sue [Chan, production designer] did and Joel [P. West, composer] did, created something new that connected with audiences. We recognized it, the audience recognized it, and I sure would love the hard work of all of these people who are telling their story to get recognized.”
Will ‘Shang-Chi’ have a “Black Panther” moment when the Oscar nominations are eventually announced? Both are culturally significant works that were generally lauded by critics and went on to earn big box office totals. But it definitely doesn’t feel like there’s the same sort of groundswell of support for ‘Shang-Chi’ as there was for “Black Panther.” We’ll just have to wait and see if the “genre bias” rears its head again this year.