Spider-Man: No Way Home became the highest-grossing film of 2021 and one of the highly-rated films from both critics and the audience. There's no denial at this point that the reception for the film has been through-the-roof and it was celebrated by fans thanks to the return of the characters from the past films. However, despite the large reception, the film didn't get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and it received its only recognition in Best Visual Effects. While it was a long shot for the film to be included on the list, there are some fans who are upset about the snub and one of them is Kevin Smith.
Per ComicBook.com, during his recent FatMan Beyond podcast, Smith expressed his dismay on Spider-Man: No Way Home not getting a Best Picture nomination despite the ten slots that the category has. He also criticized the Academy for not having a "populist choice" when it comes to the nominees in the top prize.
Smith started by jokingly congratulating the film's Best Picture nomination, "I would just like to congratulate the good folks who made Spider-Man: No Way Home for the very deserved Best Picture nomination that I'm sure it got, I didn't read the nods. Marc [Bernardin, co-host], tell me that I'm right."
When Bernardin said that the film didn't receive a nomination, Smith went ahead with his rant, "What the f*ck? They got ten slots, they can't give one to the biggest f*cking movie of like the last three years? Man, and they're like 'Why won't anyone watch this show?' Like f*cking make a populist choice, f*ck, man. You got how many slots? Throw in Spider-Man for God's sakes. Let him swing in there. F*cking poor kid's always getting crapped on and sh*t, show Peter Parker some f*cking love. I'm not even being facetious, with as many movies as they have nominated for Best Picture..."
However, at this point, Smith's live stream got cut out. When it resumed minutes later, he continued with a joke, "Kids, the conspiracy is real. I spoke about Spider-Man not being nominated by The Academy and we got tossed off of YouTube. Tie those two things together the truth lies somewhere out there."
Smith is obviously frustrated and passionate about the film's snub for the Best Picture nomination. It is unfortunate that, despite being the biggest film of the year, it didn't get nominated for the top prize. However, to be fair, there were a lot of great films that were released last year that are deserving to be part of the ten slots. With only a limited number of films that can be included in the list, there will be snubs and, obviously, No Way Home wasn't able to make it.
Despite the snub, the film is still okay without it as it is the highest-grossing film of last year and has earned more than $1.7 billion at the box office. While it didn't get recognized by the Academy, it still has the support from fans who clearly loved the film as evidenced by all the box office records and audience scores that it has gotten.
Also Read: Andrew Garfield Breaks Silence on Spider-Man: No Way Home's Oscar Best Picture Snub
Spider-Man: No Way Home is still showing in theaters.