Kevin Feige Says Marvel Will Push Black Panther For Best Picture Oscar

Kevin Feige says that Marvel is going to push for a Best Picture Oscar — not just Best Popular Film — for Black Panther. Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Feige said that the studio is seeking the film to be awarded on its creative merits, not its popularity.

Feige told the site, “I would like to see the hard work and the effort and the vision and the belief of the talented filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who sat across the table from us a few years ago and said, ‘I have been wrestling with questions about my past and my heritage and I think I really want to tell a story within this movie. And that he did it so unbelievably well and with so much impact… seeing that potentially being recognized is what excites me the most.”

A studio spokesperson confirmed to the Times that Disney’s plans for Black Panther’s awards campaign has not been changed by the Academy’s announcement of the Best Popular Film categroy. One executive said that Disney plans to push hard for Best Picture and added, “[Academy Executive] Dawn Hudson would crawl in a hole if Black Panther gets snubbed for Best Picture and winds up landing in the popular film category.”

Black Panther is the highest-grossing film of the year to date domestically, with $700 million.