Marvel Studios' most recent MCU blockbuster helped the studio win an award in an acting category at the 80th Golden Globes for the first time.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, one of the best-reviewed films in recent memory, brought Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, and Danai Gurira to the front of Marvel Studios' Phase 4 schedule in 2022. Marvel had high hopes for Black Panther 2, which it released in early November, to win some recognition during the 2023 awards season. This is something that the MCU has largely missed out on over the years.
With the upcoming awards season, Black Panther 2 has already made history in one way. Thanks to Angela Bassett's portrayal of Queen Ramonda in the film, Black Panther 2 became the first MCU film to ever receive an acting nomination at the Golden Globes.
And right now, Bassett is continuing to raise the bar for the MCU, taking the series to new heights in terms of critical acclaim that it hasn't experienced in its nearly 15-year history.
Black Panther 2 Scores Big at the Golden Globes
For her portrayal of Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Angela Bassett received the 2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Bassett is now the first actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have his or her performance in a Marvel Studios film win a Golden Globe. The following individuals were also nominated for the award, including Bassett:
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness)
Carey Mulligan (She Said)
After winning the award for Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do with It, Bassett now holds two Golden Globes. She additionally received a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in Black Panther in 2018.
Bassett Wins Big with Marvel for Outstanding Work
With several Emmys from WandaVision and What If...?, Marvel Studios has finally started to find itself winning awards on a larger scale since the beginning of the Multiverse Saga. After the first Black Panther movie was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, and went on to win three awards, the sequel also received five Oscar pre-nominations.
Critics unanimously agreed that Bassett's portrayal of Ramonda was one of the film's high points and praised the MCU's 30th entry for putting together a really meaningful and emotional journey. The fact that Bassett's protagonist gave her life to save Riri Williams from drowning made her passing one of the film's most powerful scenes.
Simply put, Bassett gave her all to this performance, delivering stirring monologue after stirring monologue as Queen Ramonda guided her nation through a period of grieving and reconstruction in the MCU sequel.
Related: New Domestic Box Office Record Set by Black Panther 2
Although every member of the cast delivered performances that were deserving of awards, Bassett was frequently mentioned in discussions and reviews because of the effort she put forth in what was probably her final MCU film.
With the MCU continuing to reach new heights, hopefully this will allow the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and other like groups to take a closer look at performances like Bassett's in the MCU. Despite the fact that Marvel has already lobbied for some of its biggest actors to be acknowledged at the 2023 Academy Awards, Bassett should have a strong chance of achieving further success later in the year after receiving this accolade.
On February 1, Disney+ will start streaming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.