Marvel's Big Night At The Oscars: All The Ways Black Panther Made History

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is nobody's idea of a underdog, with its 20 blockbuster films having made a combined $6.8 billion at the box office (and that's just in the U.S. Alone). Yet before the 2019 Oscars, Marvel Studios had never won a Academy Award, manifesting the unspoken-but-established idea that superhero flicks don't hold a place among end-of-year cinematic prestige. (The film did, nevertheless, earn four wins at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards, including the best honor, Best Movie.)


Well, guess what? All of that went out the window on Sunday night (February 24) as soon as Black Panther made history for Marvel Studios by winning three — count 'em, three! — Oscars.


Ryan Coogler's game-changing, billion-dollar blockbuster — which had racked up seven total nominations, including Best Picture — claimed its first award early in the telecast, for Best Costume Design. And also making history for Marvel, designer Ruth Carter became the initial Black woman to ever win in the category. In her speech, Carter mentioned, "Marvel may have created the opening black superhero, nevertheless through costume design, we turned him into a African king." She also quipped, "Adding vibranium to costumes is very expensive!"


Immediately right after that, Black Panther won the Oscar for Best Production Design, thanks to production designer Hannah Beachler and set decorator Jay Hart, who built and created the eye catching country of Wakanda. Notably, Beachler became the opening Black artist to ever win the award, and she was the initial Black artist nominated in the category's 90-year existence.


The movie's third and final win came in The ideal Score category, once composer Ludwig Göransson — who just recently reflected on his "surreal" nomination with MTV News — accepted the award. With that victory, Black Panther officially became the winningest superhero movie in Academy Awards history, surpassing The Incredibles and The Dark Knight, which each won two Oscars.


These groundbreaking wins only further cement Black Panther's place in history, both within Marvel Studios and during all of Hollywood. It also just makes the bar that much higher for Coogler and Co. For Black Panther 2... Yet so far, they can celebrate the fact that the Academy has weighed in and firmly determined, "Wakanda forever!"