Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has criticised the decision not to nominate Spider-Man: No Way Home for Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars.
The Marvel blockbuster was by some distance the most commercially successful film of last year, taking in more than $1.7bn (£1.3bn) at the global box office.
However, while the film did in fact receive a nomination yesterday for Best Visual Effects, No Way Home was not included in any other categories.
Kimmel bemoaned the decision while monologuing on his talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
“The Oscars, of course – are our chance to honour all the great movies we watched on television,” he said. “The big winner nominations-wise – was The Power of the Dog. The Power of the Dog got twelve nominations – one for every person who saw it.”
Directed by Jane Campion, the Netflix-released The Power of the Dog stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee, all of whom were nominated in acting catagories.
“Lady Gaga was a surprise. No-mination. She did not get nominated. But the biggest snub today, in my opinion — and I’m actually even angry about this, I’m kind of embarrassed to say — is the unforgivable omission of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“How did that not get one of the 10 nominations for Best Picture? There are only 11 movies made this year,” Kimmel asked. “Forget the fact that the movie made $750m [in the US] and is still going– this was a great movie. It wasn’t in the top 10 best movies of the year? There were three Spider-Men in it!”
The presenter continued by noting the presence of Andrew Garfield and Cumberbatch among No Way Home’s cast members, both of whom were nominated for Best Actor (for tick, tick... BOOM! and The Power of the Dog).
“You’re telling me Don’t Look Up was better than Spider-Man?” he added. “It most certainly was not.
“Even if you go by the critics’ reviews, on [review aggregation website] Rotten Tomatoes, Don’t Look Up, among top critics got a 46. Spider-Man has a 90!”
The 2022 Oscars ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on 27 March.
