Disney Is Going to Push ‘Black Panther’ For Oscars, and Christopher Nolan Predicts Best Picture Nomination

“The Shape of Water” was just announced as the 2018 Oscar winner for Best Picture, but Hollywood doesn’t sleep when it comes to Oscar season. Disney is already preparing a massive awards push for its Marvel tentpole “Black Panther.”

A Disney executive told Deadline that “Black Panther” will be one of two tentpoles the company puts its weight behind next awards season. The other is “Mary Poppins Returns;” Emily Blunt stars in the title role, which won Julie Andrews an Oscar.

Fortunately, “Black Panther” has at least one confirmed Academy member supporting it, and he happens to be a directing powerhouse. Deadline reporter Pete Hammond ran into Christopher Nolan, and asked which films were on radar for next year’s Best Picture race. Nolan said he predicts a Best Picture nomination for “Black Panther,” even though superhero films have long been avoided in the Oscars’ biggest category. Nolan’s own “The Dark Knight” missed the mark, as did “Wonder Woman.”

“Black Panther” has proven to be a critical darling and a box office phenomenon: In under a month, the film has already broken onto the list of the top 10 highest-grossing films in the U.S. and is destined for a worldwide haul over $1 billion, challenging “The Avengers” to become the biggest comic-book film in Hollywood history.