“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star Angela Bassett made superhero cinema history on Tuesday as the first woman, the first person of color and the first Marvel Studios actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for their performance in a comic book adaptation.
It’s Bassett’s second Oscar nomination; her first came 29 years ago for best actress for 1993’s Tina Turner biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
But while Bassett’s nomination breaks several Oscar barriers, “Wakanda Forever” failed to equal the best picture nod earned by 2018’s “Black Panther” — the first superhero movie ever nominated for Oscar’s top prize.
The film was also nominated for Ruth E. Carter for costume design; “Lift Me Up” for original song (by Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler); Camille Friend and Joel Harlow for makeup and hairstyling; and Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, Hanzhi Tang and Dan Sudick for visual effects.
