17 Superhero Movies That Were Nominated For Oscars
10. Guardians Of The Galaxy
Nominated For: Best Achievement In Visual Effects & Best Achievement In Makeup And Hairstyling
When Guardians Of The Galaxy became one of the biggest hits of 2014 (and one of the most successful origin movies of all time) it helped raise the profile of director James Gunn, whose previous feature was the considerably cheaper Super (2010), starring Rainn Wilson as a mentally unbalanced fry cook turned superhero.
Unlike Christopher Nolan, Shane Black and Joss Whedon, Gunn wasn't one of the "cool kids" who looked set to take the MCU in a new direction, he was the guy who'd scripted the Scooby Doo movies and gotten his start working at Troma Films' schlock shop (Lloyd Kaufman, Troma's co-founder, has a brief cameo),
In short, Gunn didn't look (on paper at least) like the guy you'd trust with a $170 million budget, but Marvel Studios gave him a shot and he repaid them with one of their best films. Good call, Marvel, good call.