Spider-Man and Marvel fans were disappointed to learn that the latest web-swinging adventure would not be included in this year’s BAFTA nominations. This comes after Sony failed to upload Spider-Man: No Way Home to the British Academy’s online viewing portal, for judges to watch before deciding on the respective nominees, for fears of piracy and spoilers being released.
While this could be viewed as Sony’s own paranoia preventing awards success, BAFTA failed to compromise, and thus No Way Home will not be involved in this year’s ceremony. Easily the biggest film of 2021, it recently surpassed Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time in the US, bringing in over $750 million domestically and over $1.8 billion worldwide.
The apparent success of the film from the box office and critics, as well as audience reviews, makes one wonder how on earth it could be excluded. Scoring 93% for the critics and a staggering 98% for audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the latest instalment of the Spider-Man franchise has taken the industry by storm. Despite fan service being at the forefront of this film, even for the casual viewer, it is bound to keep them enthralled from start to finish.
The fan service experienced in No Way Home is perhaps the most fun Marvel and Spider-Man fans have had in a very long time. While most reading this will no doubt be aware of the film’s plot and success, the significance of it cannot be understated. Three generations of Spider-Man uniting to fight their respective villains is something nobody envisioned until the rumours began to circulate. The concept of a ‘multiverse’ opened up endless possibilities for the plot, and with confirmed returns of the most recognisable villains, it was surely inevitable that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would return to don their red and blue suits once more.
Though most fans were almost certain that the duo would return, Sony and Marvel’s efforts to deny their involvement in the film kept some doubt in our minds. Still, audiences were far from disappointed. Without going into too much detail for those yet to see it – or those living under a rock – this addition to the Spider-Man catalogue is up there with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, widely considered the best of his classic trilogy. This new film has humour, devastation, quality acting (honourable mention to Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin), and a bitter-sweet ending.
It has become clear that the three Tom Holland films have been his origin trilogy, with the door now open to a new set of adventures for a matured, lonely, classic Peter Parker. Holland has grown into the role perfectly and can now be seen as a strong and independent Spider-Man, breaking away from his ‘Iron-Man junior’ title which many fans found appropriate in Homecoming and Far From Home. While the ending to No Way Home is possibly the saddest of any Spider-Man story, it is equally the strongest for me. It leaves behind Peter Parker’s past, allowing him to start fresh and explore new opportunities.
No Way Home has received one Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, though the Oscars, like many award bodies, have tended to snub superhero films for other awards like Best Picture. This is highly unfair in my opinion, no other genre of film would be excluded in such a manner. A film has to meet three criteria for award nominations for me: first-class acting (which it does), a robust story (which it does), and good reviews (which it most definitely does). When it is easily in the top ten films of 2021, it is absolutely astonishing how it cannot be included in the Best Picture category of any awards ceremony and Don’t Look Up can.
There will not be another reaction in the cinemas for another film in a long time like there was for Spider-Man: No Way Home. It has broken records, gone above and beyond fans’ expectations, and cemented its place in many people’s ‘greatest films of all time’ lists. Therefore, awarding bodies excluding it from nominations reveals more about their ignorance towards the wider Marvel and superhero franchise than anything else. If No Way Home fails to gain recognition, then there is no hope for similar films being nominated in the future.