Consider “Deadpool" the little under-appreciated superhero movie that could. Made on a shoestring budget thanks to lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, pulled together by the indomitable determination of its lead star and producer Ryan Reynolds (if only to banish the memory of his character’s interpretation in “X-Men origins: Wolverine”). It became a runaway box-office smash, highly rated by critics pro and amateur, and even made off with some major awards. I suppose it was only natural then for Reynolds to campaign for “Deadpool” to get at least one nomination from the 89th Academy Awards this February.

Well the nomination announcement has come and gone, and unfortunately the film didn’t get a single thing. Cue the very upset fans.

But ‘Suicide Squad’ got one nom

What really raised the hackles of fans and supporters of “Deadpool”, which is about a wisecracking disfigured (and insane) masked mercenary who can heal from any injury, is the fact that another superhero film featuring anti-hero characters – DC-Warner Bros.’ “Suicide Squad” – managed to squeak by with one nomination for ‘Best Makeup’. Now granted, while the movie was a critical flop (26% in the Rotten Tomatoes review website compared to 84% for “Deadpool”), it certainly knew how to “pretty up” its central ensemble cast; one just needs to look at Margot “Harley Quinn” Robbie and Jared “Joker” Leto for confirmation.

Nevertheless, the fact that a Golden Globe nominee and a People’s Choice Award winning flicked still ended up getting snubbed by the Academy resulted in some very unhappy people, though Reynolds himself was rather graceful about it.

Still, all is not lost for Marvel in spite of "Suicide Squad".

While “Captain America: Civil War” got no Academy Award nods (and it really wasn’t expecting to, other than for tech categories perhaps), the more recent “Doctor Strange” is on the running for ‘Best Visual Effects’ thanks to being about magic. This however opens a new can of worms regarding “Deadpool” having no nom, as it’s from Fox which manages the “X-Men” branch of Marvel Comics films.

Could X-fans be annoyed that non-X-Men films got an accolade? Anyway, outside of Marvel, the larger Disney umbrella would be very pleased with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” for getting a couple as well.

Other Oscar snubs

Well, “Deadpool” and Ryan Reynolds can look forward to joining several other films that didn’t get much love at the Academy Awards next month. There’s 5-nom Amy Adams, the star of multi-nominee “Arrival”, while she herself isn’t in for ‘Best Actress’. There’s also twice-winner Tom Hanks who got no props as "Sully", hero of the Miracle on the Hudson. Although listed as "sixth" choices in early lists, these two don't figure in the final five-name announcements. Then we have “Finding Dory”, sequel to 2004’s “Finding Nemo” that got Pixar its first ‘Best Animated Feature’ Oscar, was overlooked in favor of Disney’s “Zootopia” and “Moana.”
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