Superheroes and sci-fi foray into this year’s Emmy nominations

An uncommon, although not surprising thing was noticed when the list of Emmy nominees were announced on Tuesday. The superhero/sci-fi genre made strides into the nominations this year with The Boys, WandaVision, The Mandalorian and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier all being nominated. Superhero content, once considered superfluous and childish, have entered their golden era, tackling even hard hitting and socially-relevant themes in their storylines giving Martin Scorsese’s ‘not real cinema’ comment a run for its money.

The current year marked Marvel Studios' release of a host of TV shows which were well received by critics and viewers alike. Both WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follow the events of Avengers: Endgame, and deal with profound themes such as grief, mental-illness, racism and redemption. The success of these shows in handling these subjects well is reflected in the number of nominations they have raked up. The shows have collectively earned 28 nominations; 23 for WandaVision and five for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

The Mandalorian, which brought to viewers the beloved ‘baby Yoda’ also shines at this year’s Emmys, with a whopping 24 nominations. It tied with the Crown for most nominations. Following the events of the Return of the Jedi, the series’ portrayal of the bounty hunter with a heart of gold, who goes out of his way to protect the infant he was assigned to collect seems to have melted the hearts of critics as well as viewers. Or maybe it was baby Yoda’s charm, we’ll never know.

How would the existence of superheroes look like in the contemporary world, realistically that is? This is what The Boys show us, with an irreverent and humorous take on how all powerful heroes live amongst the ordinary. Shallow super-powered beings with a penchant for committing war crimes do not seem to be Emmy material at first, but the five nominations the show has earned beg to differ.

It remains to be seen, however, if the recognition translates to actual wins. That will be found out, come September.