Why Spider-Man: No Way Home failed to qualify for the BAFTAs

Spider-Man: No Way Home will not be collecting any awards in this year’s BAFTAs ceremony but why did it fail to qualify?

It’s no secret that when it comes to award ceremonies like The Academy Awards or The Emmys, the superhero genre rarely gets nominations in any of the top-tier categories, despite its commercial appeal.

One movie that won’t be receiving any nomination at the BAFTAs, however, is Spider-Man: No Way Home. The third installment in Jon Watts’ Homecoming trilogy within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Sony picture won’t qualify for the awards ceremony, as revealed by Deadline.

Why did Spider-Man: No Way Home not qualify for the BAFTAs?

Before you balk at the thought of this global phenomenon not receiving a BAFTA nod, the reason that Spider-Man: No Way Home didn’t receive a nomination is actually quite standard. It didn’t meet the eligibility criteria, and that had nothing to do with its genre. No, it didn’t meet that criteria because it wasn’t made available to the BAFTA members to view.

Here’s what BAFTA said in a statement:

"“Spider-Man: No Way Home did not meet the eligibility criteria for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 and therefore did not qualify for entry. As outlined in our rule book, all films must be made available to members on BAFTA View prior to Round One voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles, and the film was not made available by the distributor.”"

It seems that Sony did not submit the film in order to pass for clearance for nominations on time. The window for Round One was closed on Jan 3. Deadline references the theory that Sony’s stance on the theatrical-only window for Spider-Man: No Way Home might have made them cautious of potential leaks if it were made available to view online in any capacity.

No Way Home is still playing in theaters, but it will be available on VOD on the streamers Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Apple, and YouTube in March 2022.

Will Spider-Man: No Way Home get nominated at any other awards ceremonies?

Since Spider-Man: No Way Home was the best performing movie of the pandemic, there are many who believe it’s worthy of some nods at other award ceremonies outside of the usual categories superhero movies tend to receive nominations for (such as Best Visual Effects). This writer agrees. As for what categories it could see nominations in, that remains to be seen,

Sony is on board with their campaign for No Way Home at the Academy Awards, and if they do not get any nominations at the Oscars, there is always the Saturn Awards.

What do you think about Spider-Man: No Way Home not being eligible for the BAFTAs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!