Doctor Strange, Alexandra Byrne, and Superhero Oscar Trivia
Monday, April 4, 2016 at 7:05PM 'Last one to Oscar is a rotten egg!'
Doctor Strange (1 time nominee Benedict Cumberbatch) and Baron Mordo (1 time nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor) are running from or towards something in this set photo from the forthcoming Doctor Strange which opens November 4th, 2016. Also in the cast are other 1 time Oscar darlings Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams and future Oscar nominees (well, maybe... eventually) Mads Mikkelsen and Michael Stuhlbarg.
After the jump more set photos, costume design, and Oscar prospects...
Another angle...
These street photos have been making the rounds the past few days but filming is actually now wrapped so this outdoor jog must have been among the last things filmed. Here are a few more photos or note.
Mads Mikkelsen getting ready for tonight's runway of RuPaul's Drag Race; they're doing such elaborate imaginative eye makeup of late! Actually that's just his look from Doctor Strange. Marvel has not yet revealed his character's name. And does anyone recognize this actress he's running with? I can't match her with a name on the IMDb cast list...
OF OSCAR INTEREST
If you're curious, as you should be about such things the costume design is by Oscar winner Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age). She's no stranger to the Marvel verse having done the costumes for Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, and both Avengers films. Curiously, despite qualifying under "Most Costuming" and many superhero films employing previous Oscar nominated designers, no superhero film has ever been nominated in this category at the Oscars! Could Doctor Strange by the first given that they look more elaborate than usual?
It's an odd statistic if you think about it since every other "tech" category has been represented at least once. Given the Academy's overall resistance to this genre (the following stats are NOT good when you consider how many superhero films have been released over the years -- they even have trouble winning in visual effectss) there's plenty of room for Oscar first times from the caped hero genre if it doesn't collapse from over saturation and a lack of diversity and imagination by, say, 2020.
Superhero Oscars -- Categories by way of Academy Preference
The Genre's Nomination/Win Count From 1978's Superman until present day!
Visual Effects (14/2) wins for Spider-Man 2 and Superman
Sound Mixing (6/0)
Sound Editing (5/2) wins for The Dark Knight and The Incredibles
Makeup and Hairstyling (4/0)
Film Editing (2/0)
Score (1/0)
They only have eyes for animated films in the following categories
Animated Feature (3/2) wins for The Incredibles and Big Hero 6
Original Screenplay (1/0)
Original Song (1/0)
They only have eyes for Batman films in these categories
Cinematography (3/0)
Production Design (2/1) wins for Batman (1989), discussed here.
Supporting Actor (1/1) win for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
No superhero film has ever been nominated in the following categories
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Foreign Language Film
*This list was drawn from this Wikipedia list of superhero films, live action and animated minus Birdman -- which is not a superhero picture but a picture about an actor who once starred in a superhero picture. Get it right Wikipedia. I also did not include films based on comic strips or comic books that are not superhero related like Ghost World and Dick Tracy)
Reader Comments (9)
Fascinating post, thanks Nathaniel. Given its late-year release, DR STRANGE could be in the running for a make-up nod, I guess, but those costumes aren't screaming 'Oscar nomination!' to me.
I wonder if the lack of superhero film costume nominations is because awards voters downplay the achievement of designing / adapting costumes from a comic-book source as being less 'original' somehow than re-creating costumes from historical periods. Or maybe the films are seen as too low-brow? Or the costumes just aren't elaborate enough?
Be interesting to see if MAD MAX's success in this category changes anything as it was not your standard Costume Design Oscar winner.
Like the costumes. Not so sure about these characters running in broad daylight.
I like these Dr. Strange costumes, and Benedict C. is rocking that look. As to your question regarding why comic book films don't get much respect at Oscar time - mostly the costumes have been kind of lacking a bit of imagination. With the exception of Tim Burton's Batman series.
But here's an alternate question. Sometimes I hear comments from fan boys who love Game of Thrones, and Marvel/DC films but then they say that they can't take period films.
So if they like costumes in comic books and GoT - how come they have such a problem with a period film? no logic.
Most period films are pretty boring in comparison to all the action in Got or Marvel films. There's your logic.
#dead
The academy is just waiting for Patty Jenkins' 'Wonder Woman' to be released.
choog: Unlikely. I'd hope Costume Designers generally realize that the 0 nomination count for this genre is increasingly bizarre, but it's probably going to take something that's both interesting to them outside of the superhero costuming and very good to break through their bias against the genre and be THE FIRST. (The bad movies that do get nominated for Costume Design (think W.E. or Anonymous), conform exclusively to the branch's established biases.) And this Wonder Woman film? Don't get your hopes up. Love interest: Chris Pine. Writer: Jason "Pan" Fuchs. Cinematographer: Matthew Jensen of Fant4stic fame. Martin Scorsese or Kathryn Bigelow probably wouldn't be able to pull together a good movie with those ingredients, so what hope does a rusty "acclaimed for a biopic" director have?
I'm an old-school Marvel fan and have gleefully gobbled up all their films and TV series. I first noticed Byrne's participation in Thor... I was amazed that she managed to turn Jack Kirby's abstract costumes into kinda believable futuristic armor that looked so good. I think all her costume work for Marvel has been outstanding.
And - as my ID indicates - Doctor Strange is my favorite Marvel character, so I'm beyond excited that they're doing the film with such a remarkable cast! By the Eternal Vishanti!
Volvagia - just suggesting with tongue in cheek :). Gal Gadot for BA!