Andrew Garfield thinks Spider-Man: No Way Home was enough of a success and doesn’t need to add an Oscar to its list of achievements.
Andrew Garfield says he thinks Spider-Man: No Way Home was enough of a success in its own right, and doesn’t need to win an Oscar to validate that.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Garfield — who made a surprise appearance in No Way Home, reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man alongside two other Spider-Men — was asked his feelings on the unsuccessful campaign to get the film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. “I don’t know,” he responded. “I mean, it’s the sixth biggest movie in the history of movies. Making a film that a gajillion people want to see together is a miracle. Making a film that an awarding body loves is also a miracle. Sometimes those miracles overlap, and sometimes they don’t. But I personally feel pretty satisfied with the audience response. I think that’s plenty.”
Still, a number of celebrities, some of whom are involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have argued that No Way Home deserved a Best Picture nod. Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury in the MCU, asserted, “They should have an Oscar for the most popular movie.” The actor went on to say that No Way Home “did what movies did forever — it got people to a big dark room.”
There actually was an “Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film” Oscar category that was proposed by the Academy in 2018. The MCU film Black Panther was considered a shoo-in for the controversial new award, though the Academy ended up canceling the proposed category. Black Panther was instead nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, but ultimately lost to Green Book.
Filmmaker and famous comic book fan Kevin Smith went on an expletive-filled rant on the topic on one of his podcasts. “Man, and they’re like, ‘Why won’t anyone watch this show?’ Like fucking make a populist choice, fuck, man,” Smith said. “You got how many slots? Throw in Spider-Man for god’s sakes. Let him swing in there. Fucking poor kid’s always getting crapped on and shit, show Peter Parker some fucking love.”
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel also ranted on his show about what he dubbed the “unforgivable omission” of No Way Home. “How did that not get one of the 10 nominations for Best Picture? There were only 11 movies made this year. Forget the fact that the movie made $750 million and is still going. This was a great movie. It wasn’t in the top 10 best movies of the year? There were three Spider-Men in it!”
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available for purchase on digital platforms. The 94th Academy Awards will air on March 27 on ABC.
