AVENGERS ASSEMBLE: Marvel heats up its Oscar campaign for 'Endgame'

Studio taking extra care to make film appear more 'serious' than it is

Marvel Studios has well and truly begun its Oscars campaign for Avengers: Endgame, the record-breaking superhero flick that the studio hopes will recreate the success of Black Panther from a year ago.

According to critics who have been sent screeners for the film, Marvel is going out of its way to make the epic action extravaganza appear as a serious drama, perhaps in an effort to boost its chances at the Oscars, reported Hindustan Times. 

PHOTO: MARVEL

Polygon writer Tasha Robinson tweeted a picture of the cover of the screener saying, “The awards screener cover for Endgame is a whole capital-M mood. I dig this film a lot and it’s way grimmer and more thoughtful than I was expecting.” She then joked, “But this still looks like the second coming of Steve McQueen’s Hunger.”

Matt Jacobs of Huffington Post also tweeted the cover and wrote, “The FYC screener for Endgame is working very hard to make this the film seem serious.” The cover is a black and white shot of Robert Downey Jr in the sombre opening scene wherein his character Tony Stark aka Iron Man sends a recorded message to his wife Pepper Potts.

The FYC screener for Avengers: Endgame is working very hard to make this movie seem serious. pic.twitter.com/PBtjiYWbg8

— Matt Jacobs (@majacobs) November 26, 2019

Disney intends on putting together a massive campaign for Endgame, which became the highest-grossing film of all time this summer, eclipsing the previous record set by James Cameron’s Avatar. It also received unanimous critical acclaim, with praise going to its handling of multiple characters, in particular Stark and Steve Rogers aka Captain America, played by Chris Evans.

Marvel has already started auditions for Ms Marvel aka Kamala Khan

Fans are also anticipating a  nomination for Downey Jr, who has been with the franchise since its inception and ‘retired’ after Endgame.

The awards screener cover for AVENGERS: ENDGAME is a whole capital-M mood. I dig this film a lot, and it's way grimmer and more thoughtful than I was expecting, but this still looks like the second coming of Steve McQueen's HUNGER. pic.twitter.com/CfomJb35XL

— Tasha Robinson (@TashaRobinson) November 25, 2019

Here are 13 previously-listed categories in which Marvel is offering Endgame up for consideration:

Best Picture: Kevin Feige
Best Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Best Cinematography: Trent Opaloch
Best Film Editing: Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt
Best Production Design: Charles Wood (production designer) and Tonja Schurmann (set decorator)
Best Costume Design: Judianna Makovsky
Best Make-up and hairstyling: John Blake, Janine Thompson and Brian Sipe
Best Sound Mixing: Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta and John Pritchett
Best Sound Editing: Shannon Mills and Daniel Laurie
Best Visual Effects: Dan Deleeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
Best Original Score: Alan Silvestri

In addition to this, the studio is also pitching Downey Jr, Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd and Don Cheadle in the Best Supporting Actor category, and Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan and Brie Larson in the Best Supporting Actress category.

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