We had one film release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

To say that the summer blockbuster season has gotten off to a mega start could be an understatement, but to say that the year’s visual effects race is heating up would be accurate. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film to release to theaters and it’s Benedict Cumberbatch’s second “solo” film, as much as it could be considered a solo film. Other characters get plenty of play as well, which makes it something of a collaborative effort, as most of these movies are likely to be in the near future.

In terms of Oscar, a big box office won’t help it earn much outside of the craft categories, but like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Best Visual Effects is a category he knows well. Having whiffed the first time, his second film picked up the prize Best Visual Effects while the third got no nominations at all. With the previous nomination for Spider-Man: No Way Home as a predecessor, it’s clear the voters in this branch love the multiverse and based on previews, this is more likely to be astounding than No Way Home was. Can it win? At this point, it’s not certain, though it will certainly be a major player for the award.