James Wan: ‘Aquaman’s Oscars visual effects snub is a disgrace’

Aquaman director James Wan is livid after Oscars bosses failed to recognise the superhero blockbuster in its 2019 shortlist for the Best Visual Effects award.
Members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee recently unveiled their shortened list of contenders, with First Man, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Ant-Man and the Wasp among the 10 titles still in the running for nominations.
Aquaman had previously made the preliminary cut of 20 films, but after it was left off the latest shortlist, Wan lashed out at Oscars officials for overlooking the hard work of his crew as he responded to a Facebook post about the project, shared by his visual effects (VFX) supervisor Kelvin McIlwain.
“Kelvin, you and your department are the unsung heroes of this film,” Wan commented. “The fact that your VFX peers in the Academy aren’t recognizing or appreciating what we/you’ve all contributed to the film and cinema is a f**king disgrace.”
Agreeing with the director, McIlwain replied, “I’m with you James. It was a complete shock to everyone that we are not in the final 10 films that will be presenting at the Academy VFX Bake-off.”
Wan has since tried to explain to fans how tiny special effects details were so crucial to the film, sharing an article on Twitter all about how he and his team focused on getting the computer-generated imagery regarding leading man Jason Momoa’s hair just right for scenes set in the underwater kingdom of Atlantis.
“This is a great, little insight into ONE VFX component (of which there were many) – the damn HAIR,” Wan tweeted. “Momoa’s long hair and beard were such a pain to get right, but ultimately it became an important visual cue to help sell the underwater look.”
The official list of Oscar nominations are set to be unveiled on 22 January (19), ahead of the awards ceremony on 24 February (19).