While Marvel has won many hearts and box office records, the studio has rarely been the favorite of award shows such as the Oscars and Golden Globes. These awards are mostly reserved for films that go beyond genre tropes and have elements of arthouse. Marvel’s Black Panther is the only film that was nominated for Best Picture.
However, the prestigious Saturn Awards have constantly honored the franchise as they focus on sci-fi, horror, and fantasy genres. Marvel has dominated the Saturn Awards for Best Comic-to-Movie Film category, which is widely regarded as the ‘Oscars for Superheroes’. Ever since it was established in 2013, only one DC film has had the honor of receiving the award, and it is not Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel.
Joker Was The First DC Film To Beat Marvel At The Saturn Awards
The prestigious Saturn Awards were established in 1973 to honor cinematic achievements in the science fiction genre. The awards then went on to cover a wide range of other fiction genres such as horror and fantasy. The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films votes for the winners each year, with members such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and JJ Abrams being a part of it.
In 2013, the Best Comic-to-Movie Film category was established to honor the superhero genre of films as they became more mainstream and continuous. The first film to be awarded the coveted award was Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man 3. The film was nominated along with Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel, and other Marvel entries such as The Wolverine and Thor: The Dark World (via Variety).
Since the category’s introduction in 2013, Marvel has been dominating the prestigious awards and has won every single year save for one. MCU films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Avengers: Endgame have won the Saturn. Marvel and DC have dominated the nominations, with only Valiant Comics’ Bloodshot and Millarworld’s Kingsman: The Secret Service getting nominations in the category.
While the MCU has won every single year, in 2019, DC won its first Saturn Award in the category with the Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker. The film had been considered to be one of the best films of the year, with Phoenix also winning the Oscar for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (via Deadline).
Why Has No Other DC Film Won A Saturn Award?
Since its establishment in 2013, Marvel has been the only franchise in the superhero genre that has won most of the awards. The streak was broken by just one DC film, Joker, which is often considered to be an Elseworlds story that was not a part of the main continuity in the DCEU. Despite the franchise being nominated since its establishment, it seemed to have never found its footing in the awards show.
The DCEU, which ended with 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, began in 2013 with Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel. The film was intended to be the beginning of a new cinematic universe based on the DC comics IPs such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League. Director Zack Snyder was put in charge of helming the franchise.
Films such as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad have been nominated for the award. The standalone film The Batman was also nominated for the coveted trophy but lost out to Spider-Man: No Way Home. For the 2022-2023 season, the film Blue Beetle was also nominated.
The DC franchise has had a tough time catching up with Marvel at the box office due to a number of mismanagement issues. According to Medium, rushed production schedules and lack of a cohesive plan for the franchise were some of the reasons for the franchise’s failures. While non-DCEU films such as The Dark Knight trilogy could have won the award, the category was only introduced in 2013 after the end of the trilogy.
The DCEU was finally put to a stop after James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as chiefs of DC Studios and decided to reboot the franchise. With the reboot, there might be chances for the franchise to make a mark and finally win another ‘Oscar for Superheroes’.
