Superman Tops Fantastic Four on Oscars Shortlist — Is Marvel Losing Its Grip?
Superman trounced The Fantastic Four: First Steps at the box office—and now it’s eclipsed Marvel’s flagship on the Oscars shortlist, as the studio’s once-safe Best VFX stronghold shows cracks.
DC just outpaced Marvel again. After beating The Fantastic Four: First Steps at the box office, James Gunn's Superman has now pulled ahead on the Oscars shortlist too. Marvel usually sneaks into Best VFX even in off years, but this cycle is not that.
Where the shortlist landed
- Superman (DCU): Shortlisted for Best VFX and Best Original Score at the 98th Academy Awards.
- Captain America: Brave New World (MCU): Shortlisted for Best Original Score.
- Thunderbolts (MCU): No shortlist mentions.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (MCU): No shortlist mentions.
Why Superman keeps showing up in VFX conversations
One thing Gunn is reliably good at: effects that feel designed, not slapped together. Even when he was working inside Marvel's gray-and-beige era, the Guardians movies popped visually — and all three snagged VFX nominations. That consistency tracks with how he runs pre-production. He locks down the big sequences early, maps out what the shots need to be, and gives vendors time to polish instead of panic. It also helps that he still uses practical elements when he can, which keeps the work from looking like one big digital soup. That approach is a big reason his releases rarely slide off their dates.
Marvel's VFX streak stalls
For a long time, if Marvel got anything at the Oscars, it was a VFX nod. The last one came with, ironically, Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The following year, Deadpool & Wolverine crushed the box office but couldn’t crack the category. And now, unless something changes, Marvel looks set to miss the VFX lineup two years in a row. Brave New World at least shows up on the Original Score shortlist, but otherwise it’s a quiet year on that front.
Next year is a knife fight
Looking down the road to 2026, the field gets crowded fast: Supergirl (another DCU title that will benefit from a long post window), Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, Denis Villeneuve's Dune 3, and maybe even a sequel to Godzilla Minus One. On Marvel's side, Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are slated for next year, so we’ll see if that finally gets them back into the VFX race.
The scoreboard, for now
Superman outgrossed The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and now it’s ahead on the Oscar shortlist too. Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four sat this one out entirely, while Brave New World is hanging on thanks to its score. Snub or fair shake? Your call.
Where to watch
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is streaming on Disney+ (USA).
Superman is streaming on HBO Max (USA).