10 Reasons Black Panther Shouldn't Win Best Picture

9. Other Superhero Movies Have Been Far More Deserving

Should we judge recent movies by what came before? Probably not, but if Black Panther is even just nominated for Best Picture, there are going to be those crying foul that there were far more deserving superhero movies which were snubbed in previous years.

The most egregious example, of course, is 2008's The Dark Knight, a movie so wildly acclaimed that its snubbing for Best Picture resulted in a major Oscar shake-up, where the field of nominees was expanded from five to a potential ten (though it's usually just nine).

While Black Panther has earned comparisons to The Dark Knight, few will seriously argue that Marvel's movie is the better of the two, especially as the honeymoon period surrounding it begins to wind down. In terms of direction, writing, performances and what it did for the comic book movie, Christopher Nolan's film is a better and far more deserving Best Picture nominee in every respect.

The same can also be said of last year's Logan, which stripped away a lot of the typical superhero tentpole trappings and largely succeeded as a more grounded, visceral piece of character work. Hell, even Marvel's own Captain America: Civil War feels like a tighter, more enticing awards offering.

Black Panther being even just nominated for Best Picture would certainly be progress for the genre, but it also doesn't quite feel like the ultra-convincing home-run that deserves to break through and take home the biggest award of the night.