Every DC Movie To Win An Oscar Has One Thing In Common

The Marvel Cinematic Universe dominates the box office, but it’s DC that’s winning the awards. During Sunday’s Academy Awards, Todd Phillips’ 1970s throwback Joker took home two Oscars: Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir (who also won an Emmy and Grammy for her eerie work on Chernobyl) and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, who gave an impassioned, if rambling acceptance speech about injustice and artificially inseminated cows. Phoenix is the second actor to be recognized by the Academy for playing the Clown Prince of Crime, after Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and Joker is the fourth DC film to win a competitive Oscar. And they all have one thing in common.

[insert Joker clapping GIF]

As noted by ScreenRant, the four DC movies to win an Oscar are 1989’s Batman, with Jack Nicholson as the Prince-loving Joker (Best Art Direction, now called Best Production Design); The Dark Knight, with Ledger (Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing); Suicide Squad, with Jared Leto (Best Makeup and Hairstyling); and Joker. The key to getting an Oscar is by including the Joker, apparently. Otherwise, DC has come up blank, even if Patrick Wilson deserved *all* the awards for playing Orm in Aquaman. I guess he’ll have to settle for being Ocean Master. In case you’re wondering: Richard Donner’s Superman, starring Christopher Reeve as Man of Steel, won an Oscar, but it was a non-competitive Special Achievement award for Visual Effects.

Joker is now in a second-place tie with The Dark Knight for the comic book movie with the most Oscars, behind Black Panther‘s three. But if DC ever pulls a Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and makes an all-Joker movie, look out, Best Picture! (This should happen to see how quickly Jack Nicholson would shut down Jared Leto’s shenanigans.)

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020