Warner Bros.Who’s laughing now? Joker has become the most Oscar-nominated comic book movie of all time, overtaking its DC predecessor The Dark Knight.
Christopher Nolan’s game-changing Batman sequel was one of the first superhero films to break the mould with a mighty successful awards campaign, leading to a Best Supporting Actor win at the Oscars for the late Heath Ledger.
However, Joker has trumped it – big time. While The Dark Knight had eight nominations (and two subsequent wins), Joker has 11 – not just the most of any film this year, but the most of any comic book movie ever.
Warner Bros.Todd Phillips’ billion-dollar triumph struck a chord with audiences both in their heads and wallets, as fans flocked to the cinema time and time again to witness the horrific, captivating origin of Arthur Fleck’s rise (or descent) into villainous legend.
Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Fleck, a wannabe stand-up comedian who kickstarts a dangerous social movement with an act of violence (à la 8chan), has attracted widespread critical, audience and industry acclaim since the film’s release.
Warner Bros.The Oscar nominations were announced earlier today, January 13, and Joker‘s pull was enormous, earning nominations for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.
It leads the pack by just one nomination, with The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917 cruising on 10 nominations each.
Universal PicturesWhile The Dark Knight set the stage for comic book success on the awards circuit, Black Panther showed the world superheroes weren’t messing around. Last year, it was the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture, and was nominated for another six (it won three on the night).
Joker is practically guaranteed to win at least two of the 11 awards it’s up for: Phoenix has been the clear favourite from the off (with Marriage Story’s Adam Driver being the only other real competition), while Hildur Guðnadóttir harrowing, slow-burning score has been majorly successful across ceremonies.
Warner Bros.Avengers: Endgame, that other sort-of successful comic book movie, managed to bag a nomination for Best Visual Effects, going up against the likes of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and 1917.
UNILAD called Joker ‘a mesmerising, incendiary portrait of villainy’ and our film of 2019.
The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on February 9.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.