17 Superhero Movies That Were Nominated For Oscars
5. Batman
Won: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration
The second superhero movie to be honored by the Academy, Batman is a triumph of production design (by Anton Furst, who later committed suicide) with one glaring problem that has plagued every subsequent Batman film - the villain is more interesting than the title character.
Unfortunately for Michael Keaton, The Joker is played by Jack Nicholson, who leaves no scenery unchewed when he's not disfiguring models or shooting down the Bat Plane. In fact, you could put Nicholson's Joker on these sets and you'd have a pretty good movie all on its own. No need for Batman, he just gets in the way of a flamboyant villain.
Did Nicholson win any awards, you ask? He was nominated a few times, but went home empty handed each time. However, the movie did win a Brit Award for Best soundtrack.