Will Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse get a Best Picture nomination?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has arrived with a near-perfect 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, sparking conversation about whether the animated sequel could become the second animated film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

The Critical Consensus

The review embargo lifted to overwhelming praise. Out of 115 reviews, only five gave the film a rotten score. Even critics who had reservations about specific elements acknowledged the movie's technical achievement and storytelling ambition. One outlier called it "a barrage of inconsistent visuals," but that remains a rare complaint.

The film's unique visual style, featuring animation that shifts to match different artists' styles, has become its signature strength. The score by Daniel Pemberton stands out as exceptionally dominant, rarely making critics' top three priority lists but earning genuine admiration here.

Understanding Rotten Tomatoes Scores

It's important to understand what a 96% rating actually means. The percentage doesn't reflect how much critics loved the film, but rather how many gave it a "fresh" score (above 3 out of 10). A 96% score means 96 of those critics thought it was good enough to recommend, not necessarily that they all consider it a masterpiece. Some could have given it a 3, technically passing while remaining lukewarm.

Best Picture Potential

The question remains: can animation cross the barrier into Best Picture consideration? The last animated film nominated for Best Picture was Beauty and the Beast in 2017, when the Academy expanded the category to 10 nominees. Before that, animated films rarely received serious consideration.

Animation has long suffered from a false perception that it is inherently childish. Director Guillermo del Toro challenged this directly after winning the Pinocchio Oscar, declaring that "animation is art."

Across the Spider-Verse could represent a watershed moment. The film's storytelling, visuals, and score all work in concert to create something that transcends typical animated film expectations. The opening minutes alone feel genuinely fresh in a way that's rare in modern cinema.

The Political Question

There's a debate about whether the Academy would nominate an animated film for Best Picture as a political move to gain credibility. But that framing misses something important. When Top Gun: Maverick received a Best Picture nomination, it wasn't purely political, even if it acknowledged the film's cultural impact on the industry.

Similarly, nominating Spider-Verse could reflect genuine recognition of what animation can achieve as a medium, not just a calculated move. The film's impact on animation as an art form would be the actual story being honored.

The Realistic Odds

Will it get nominated? Possibly, though the influx of prestige films arriving in the final months of the year creates tough competition. Studios flood the market from September through December with serious contenders, making it hard for any film released in June to maintain momentum.

Will it win? Almost certainly not. But the nomination alone would represent a genuine shift in how the industry views animation at the highest level.

The smart prediction: Across the Spider-Verse wins Best Animated Feature and receives a Best Picture nomination. Whether it receives that nomination will ultimately depend on whether the Academy sees animation as worthy of their highest honor, not on whether the film itself deserves consideration.