Oppenheimer misses out on the Best Visual Effects Oscar shortlist – but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania makes it through

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer.
(Image credit: Universal)

The shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the next Oscars has been revealed – but one key 2023 release is missing. 

Oppenheimer, which sees Cillian Murphy play J. Robert Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb, is not among the 20 films in the category's shortlist, so doesn't stand a chance of being nominated at the 96th Academy Awards. The latest movie from director Christopher Nolan has been generating awards buzz since its release this summer, so it's surprising to see it missing from one of the Oscars' key craft categories. Nolan's last film, Tenet, took home the award in 2020.

There are some other omissions, too. While all of Marvel's big-screen releases from this year have made the cut, only Aquaman 2 from DC's slate has received any recognition – The Flash and Shazam! Fury of the Gods are both missing from the list. 

You can see the full shortlist, as revealed by Variety, below:

Ultimately, there will only be five movies up for the Best Visual Effects award, so plenty of the titles above won't make the final cut. The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23, before the ceremony takes place on March 10, 2024. 

If you're up to date with this year's biggest titles, look ahead to 2024 with our guide to the most exciting movie release dates on the horizon.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.