Captain America: Brave New World Makes Oscars Shortlist as Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four Miss Out

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Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World is being considered for several Academy Awards, making the shortlist for the 98th ceremony. However, Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four did not make the cut this year.

The Academy Awards announced the films being considered in several categories, and Brave New World made the shortlist for Best Original Music Score.

Captain America Advances in Original Score

The movie Captain America: Brave New World is being considered for an Academy Award for its original music score, and is currently among the top 20 contenders – performing better in this category than some other recent Marvel films.

The films being considered for the award include Avatar: Fire and Ash, Tron: Ares, Wicked: For Good, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, as well as several others.

Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four Shut Out

Neither Thunderbolts nor Fantastic Four made it onto any of the Oscar shortlist nominations, including those for music, visual effects, or technical achievements.

These snubs show that Marvel’s recent movies aren’t consistently resonating with awards voters, as the studio adjusts its strategy after some films have received mixed reviews and performed inconsistently at the box office.

Worth a mention is that James Gunn’s Superman made the list for Best Sound and VFX.

Out of the four movies, Fantastic Four surprisingly seems like it should have been considered for awards in both sound and visual effects. Honestly, does anyone even recall the music from Captain America 4? I’m genuinely curious.

What the Shortlist Means

I keep seeing some confusion, so let me clarify. Just because Captain America: Brave New World made the initial shortlist doesn’t mean it’s nominated for an Oscar, or that it’s won anything! It just means the film is still in the running as the Academy moves toward the final vote. It’s a hopeful sign, but it’s definitely not a win yet!

Voting for the Oscar nominations will take place from January 12th to 16th, 2026, and the official nominees will be revealed on January 22nd, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will then be broadcast live on March 15th, 2026.

Full list below.

98th Oscars Shortlists

Animated Short Film

Here’s a list of titles: Autokar, Butterfly, Cardboard, Éiru, Forevergreen, The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Hurikán, I Died in Irpin, The Night Boots, Playing God, The Quinta’s Ghost, Retirement Plan, The Shyness of Trees, Snow Bear, and The Three Sisters.

Casting

Here’s a list of titles: Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle after Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Sirât, Weapons, and Wicked: For Good.

Cinematography

Here’s a list of titles: Ballad of a Small Player, Bugonia, Die My Love, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Nouvelle Vague, One Battle after Another, Sentimental Value, Sinners, Sirât, Song Sung Blue, Sound of Falling, Train Dreams, and Wicked: For Good.

Documentary Feature Film

Here’s a list of titles: The Alabama Solution, Apocalypse in the Tropics, Coexistence, My Ass!, Come See Me in the Good Light, Cover-Up, Cutting Through Rocks, Folktales, Holding Liat, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Mistress Dispeller, My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow, The Perfect Neighbor, Seeds, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, and Yanuni.

Documentary Short Film

Here’s a list of film or documentary titles: All the Empty Rooms, All the Walls Came Down, Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, Bad Hostage, Cashing Out, Chasing Time, Children No More: “Were and Are Gone”, Classroom 4, The Devil Is Busy, Heartbeat, Last Days on Lake Trinity, On Healing Land, Birds Perch, Perfectly a Strangeness, Rovina’s Choice, and We Were the Scenery.

International Feature Film

Here’s a list of film titles representing various countries: Argentina – Belén, Brazil – The Secret Agent, France – It Was Just an Accident, Germany – Sound of Falling, India – Homebound, Iraq – The President’s Cake, Japan – Kokuho, Jordan – All That’s Left of You, Norway – Sentimental Value, Palestine – Palestine 36, South Korea – No Other Choice, Spain – Sirât, Switzerland – Late Shift, Taiwan – Left-Handed Girl, and Tunisia – The Voice of Hind Rajab.

Live Action Short Film

Here’s a list of titles: Ado, Amarela, Beyond Silence, The Boy with White Skin, Butcher’s Stain, Butterfly on a Wheel, Dad’s Not Home, Extremist, A Friend of Dorothy, Jane Austen’s Period Drama, Pantyhose, The Pearl Comb, Rock, Paper, Scissors, The Singers, and Two People Exchanging Saliva.

Makeup and Hairstyling

Here’s a list of titles: The Alto Knights, Frankenstein, Kokuho, Marty Supreme, Nuremberg, One Battle after Another, Sinners, The Smashing Machine, The Ugly Stepsister, and Wicked: For Good.

Music (Original Score)

Okay, so here’s what’s coming up that I’m excited about as a movie buff! We’ve got the next Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and a new Captain America movie, Brave New World. I’m also really curious about Tron: Ares. Beyond the big franchises, Frankenstein and Hamnet sound intriguing, and I’ve heard good things about Wicked: For Good. There are a bunch of documentaries too – Diane Warren: Relentless, F1, Jay Kelly, and Marty Supreme. And then some really interesting-sounding dramas like Bugonia, Hedda, A House of Dynamite, Nuremberg, One Battle after Another, Sinners, Sirât, Train Dreams, Truth and Treason, and finally, another Knives Out mystery, Wake Up Dead Man! It’s a packed lineup, honestly.

Music (Original Song)

Let’s talk soundtracks! I’ve been diving into a fascinating collection of tunes lately. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” from Tron: Ares really captures the film’s energy, while Diane Warren’s “Dear Me” from Relentless is surprisingly poignant. The Avatar: Fire and Ash offering, “Dream As One”, is epic, as you’d expect, and the F1 track, simply titled “Drive”, is pure adrenaline. A bit of a darker turn with Billy Idol’s “Dying To Live” – a raw and honest piece. From the world of musical theatre, Wicked: For Good delivers with both “The Girl In The Bubble” and the heartwarming “No Place Like Home.” Then we have some unexpected gems – “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters is a standout, and Highest 2 Lowest delivers exactly what the title suggests. The band Sinners offers up a compelling duo with “I Lied To You” and the evocative “Last Time (I Seen The Sun).” Rounding things out, The Ballad of Wallis Island provides a beautiful ballad with “Our Love,” Come See Me in the Good Light offers the intriguing “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet,” Viva Verdi! brightens things up with “Sweet Dreams Of Joy,” and finally, Train Dreams delivers a fittingly atmospheric piece.

Sound

Here’s a list of titles: Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1, Frankenstein, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, One Battle after Another, Sinners, Sirât, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, Superman, and Wicked: For Good.

Visual Effects

Here’s a list of upcoming titles: Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Electric State, F1, Frankenstein, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus, Sinners, Superman, Tron: Ares, and Wicked: For Good.

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2025-12-17 00:33