So understand this right now, I don’t happen to think that a lot of the Marvel movies that have come out have been deserving of Oscars, but there are a couple that come to the front of the line in my own opinion simply because they were that great and because the acting was simply too epic to discount any longer. If you wonder why I wouldn’t include Captain Marvel, Black Panther, or many others, then you might think its due to misogyny or sexism or something else that’s a little more controversial. Nope, not even close. It’s because they weren’t worth the hype that was afforded them. They were good action movies, but they weren’t great stories no matter how people want to spin them, mostly because Captain Marvel was too laden with a full-on feminist agenda that took precedence over the actual story too often, as was Black Panther. Both of them were well done, as were a lot of the movies in the Marvel catalog, but there are two that come to mind that were nothing short of epic, even if the outcome could have been slightly better. Let’s take a look at those now and hopefully you’ll understand my stance, even if you don’t agree with it. Tiny Diapana of EpicStream has a few things to say about this as well.
Avengers: Endgame
I’d pick this one as being worthy of listing a few performances that are worthy of an Oscar for a couple of performances. The downside of this of course is that those I would gladly nominate were either barely in the movie or only had glimmers in which their real talent came through. The nominees as I see it would be Elizabeth Olsen and Chris Evans, and I’ll give my reasons. Evans is the easiest since he was in the movie from start to finish and had several moments that were either comical or well-scripted and he was given a great role in assembling the Avengers, as it was finally said, and one moment sticks out in my mind that could make this possible. Thanos had beaten Thor and Iron Man down, Captain America was still standing, but barely, and he was facing down Thanos with as much defiance as he could muster. One man against an army and he was standing as tall as he could, and then a voice over the mic gave him pause only a moment before a gateway opened, revealing the one last breath of hope that could bring the miracle they were needing. The simple nod between Black Panther and Captain America was a micro-moment, but the final line he delivered, “Avengers…assemble” made it clear that it was on, and the fight wasn’t over quite yet. If you didn’t feel some sort of electric charge run through the theater at that point then you might need to check your pulse.
The reason I would pick Elizabeth Olsen when many might pass is that in Infinity War we saw the heartbreaking moment when she had to destroy the Soul Stone, which meant obliterating the person she’d come to love. Thanos had no more care for this than he did for anything else, and with a simple turn of time he ripped Vision away from her, making her watch the being she loved so dearly die yet again. You can understand how she’d feel a certain way about that even five years later when she was brought back after Banner’s snap, and you can imagine that she’d be looking for the mad titan on the battlefield. But her line, delivered in such a bold and fierce growl, “You…took EVERYTHING from me.” left chills running up and down the spine since this is one character you’d never want to piss off if you could avoid it. When you think about it, had she not wanted to inflict as much punishment as she could upon Thanos, Wanda could have easily ended this fight by taking the most powerful and dangerous figure off the board with barely any effort. It might not seem like enough for a mention, but it would be in my book. Ethan Anderton of SlashFilm has more on this if you’re interested.
Logan
Hugh Jackman did win an Empire award for Best Actor, but this doesn’t feel like nearly enough since throughout the Marvel universe this is one of the characters that stands out as a favorite of so many and is also one of the most tortured of the heroes that has been around before a lot of the heroes were even glimmers in the eyes of their parents. Wolverine has been through hell and back multiple times and it shows in this movie since he’s a broken-down old man that’s simply trying to get by day after day and isn’t looking for trouble, even though it still finds him on occasion. Despite running from danger instead of towards it like usual, Logan is still capable of throwing down when he needs to and he proves this as he finally takes up the fight once again throughout the movie, proving that he’s still pretty damned good at what he does.
Those are really the only picks I’d make, but I can imagine a lot of people would have other nominees they could think of.
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