We're still waiting on updated opening weekend box office numbers for Spider-Man: No Way Home, but all signs point to the Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios movie being responsible for saving the theatrical experience. While the box office has bounced back to some extent in 2021, this is the first blockbuster to perform like a pre-pandemic release.
In Hollywood, that means an awful lot, and as well as being a financial juggernaut, the movie has also been a critical hit. As of right now, it has a spectacular 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Could that, and the fact that Spider-Man: No Way Home is arguably Marvel's best movie to date, result in a "Best Picture" nomination at next year's Academy Awards? Deadline's Peter Hammond (the trade's Chief Film Critic and Awards Columnist) believes it's possible. In his latest column, he notes that the movie is "actually good enough to be seriously considered for a Best Picture Oscar nomination."
"It will help get people back into the moviegoing experience, and maybe like the Bond film before it possibly entice older moviegoers as well, even those in the Academy’s senior demos," Hammond continues. "Saving the moviegoing experience is as important as saving the world is to Spidey....hopefully Academy members don’t snob out on us and recognize the filmmaking expertise, and pure thrills, that go into the crafting of films like this Marvel marvel."
Expertly directed by filmmaker Jon Watts with plenty of emotional moments, a superb performance from Tom Holland, and a story that serves as a love letter to the Spider-Man franchise, No Way Home is definitely deserving. You never know with the Academy, but stranger things have been known to happen.
Here's what we said in our review: "Spider-Man: No Way Home is the greatest Marvel movie ever made. Period. As epic as it is emotional, this is not only a perfect blockbuster, but Spider-Man’s wildest, funniest, and most awe-inspiring adventure yet. It's a Marvel masterpiece."
Do you think Spider-Man: No Way Home is Oscar-worthy?