RDJ = Robert Downey Jr.
End Game = Avengers
It's September which means that the Oscar Campaign has officially started. You might be wondering what the Oscar Campaign means? Might I direct you towards the video of Bradley Cooper surprising Lady Gaga on Stage at her residency in Vegas staring into each other's eyes deeply while singing Shallow?
* sorry, too little too late bradley
I mean you can practically see the drool on Bradley's leg. And although a great effort by Bradley and Gaga, too little too late. This video surfaced at the end of January, only a month before the Oscars and weeks after the Academy announced its Oscar nominees for 2019 and sadly, A Star is Born lost in most of the major categories (Best Director, Picture, Actor and Actress). The biggest travesty came from Bradley being completely shut out of Best Director Category (pause for tears), but more of that later!
So its the Academy Awards, people can't campaign for trophies, right?
Wrong.
During Oscar Race season, studios and actors/tress heavily invest in their films to win, spending large sums of money to promote their content in an attempt to influence the Academy voters. Les not forget, these are actors, they know how to convince you that they are relevant and their performance matters (Bradley / Gaga).
But back to RDJ. It's no secret that IP (Intellectual Property) Content such as Superhero, Live Action and Re-Makes are taking up a majority of the Box Office for the past several years. They are almost guaranteed to attract a larger audience and present less of a risk to the studios to invest in these bigger budget films that make millions their opening weekend. As we know, if you don't make a killer opening weekend, your movie is effectively done.
Generally, these Superhero Movies are overlooked by critics - they came from comics, people do not necessarily think of these films as "Oscar" Material. But the nomination of RDJ for his role as Iron Man the past 10 years, wouldn't be the first acknowledgment in the IP Category.
The first notable win for current IP was in 2004 with Lord of the Rings: Return of the King winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards - granted it was a small pool that year (other nominations: Seabiscut, Mystic River, Lost in Translation, Master and the Commander). I mean nothing really to brag about? But nevertheless, a big win for IP and that was back in 2004.
One of the first notable wins for Superhero Films in one of the Major Categories came from Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" in 2008 - he was nominated and won posthumously at the 2009 Academy Awards. (RIP). This seemed to have paved the way for others to follow in like categories.
* honestly doesn't have anything to do with Dark Knight, but I mean that smile right?
In 2019, its hard to believe that another actor can appear in the same role and be mentioned in the same race - I'm talking about Todd Phillip's adaptation of "The Joker" starring Joaquin Phoenix's out in October. Although "The Joker" hasn't been widely released yet, it just premiered at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and Venice Film Festival and is already generating Oscar buzz, just 11 years after Heath won. Too early to predict winners in the Best Actor Category just yet, but seems pretty obvious Phoenix will be at least nominated.
We also saw the first Marvel Movie nominated in several categories at the 2019 Oscars - most notably Best Picture - "Black Panther". This was a landmark nomination in the most highly sought after categories. (RIP Popular Movie Category - no one wanted you anyways).
So, would it be out of the norm to award an Actor like RDJ in this category? Not really. It is not unusual to see the Academy rewarding actors/tresses based on their legacy of work v. one singular performance (think back to Meryl winning Best Actress for "The Iron Lady" over Viola Davis' performance in "The Help"). But it would be a surprise - if RDJ even gets a nomination it opens the discussion even more to the parameters of what constitutes "The Best" at the Oscars - cultural impact v. original content v. movie revenue.
Does the RDJ Oscar Campaign begin now? It's already started. The Russo Brothers who directed and produced "The Avengers: End Game" have already been promoting his performance:
"I mean, that is a profound performance, when you can touch audiences all over the world to that degree. We’ve never seen anything like that, and if that doesn’t deserve an Oscar, I don’t know what does." - Joe Russo.
I know, I know, its only September, there is plenty more content to come and we will certainly revisit the idea of RDJ standing up on stage with his Golden Man. Is it likely? Probably not, but leads to larger discussions about the movie industry moving forward and what it really means to be an Oscar Contender.
And that's the sitch.
ld.
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