Congratulations to our favourite fourth wall breaking- quick healing-pop culture referencing and dark humoured merc. Yes true believers, in a stunning and unbelievable effort that surprised fans and creators alike, the Deadpool film continues to be recognised by major awards bodies. Its recognition and success cements its status as a world-class quality film in its own right, and proves it’s possible to have both critical acclaim of comic book films while keeping fans happy.
Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds this weekend won the Critics’ Choice Award for best Actor in a Comedy for his portrayal of the merc with a mouth. Only a few hours later when the Golden Globe nominations were announced was it revealed that -to much surprise of the Hollywood community and fans alike- Deadpool was nominated for two Golden Globes. The first award is for Ryan Reynolds again for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and the second is for the movie overall for Best Musical or Comedy.
What makes these nominations so significant is that Deadpool is the first comic book or ‘superhero’ film (term used lightly), to be nominated for Best Picture (or Best Film) by a major critics awards organisation. Other comic-book/superhero movies have certainly held their own for awards committees but have mainly been relegated to nominations for technical awards and special effects. One notable exception to this in an acting category was the late Heath Ledger receiving a posthumous Oscar win for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight.
Whether Deadpool wins at The Golden Globes or not, the unprecedented two nominations are a huge accomplishment for the superhero film genre, raising the possibilities and expectations for future films, as Janey Tracey of Outerplaces.com states:
“I would say it’s a huge coup for geek culture that a movie with tons of comic book-ish violence, a huge silver CGI sidekick, and a gross mutant baby hand was still considered to be a ‘good’ movie by a prestigious awards organisation.”
