The BAFTA 2022 nominations have been announced – and Netflix, HBO Max and other streaming giants have more than held their own once more.
Released on Thursday (February 3), this year's nominees list is as diverse as any we've seen. And with few nailed-on winners among this year's nominations, the race for the ceremony's top prizes is as open as it's ever been.
Based on the sheer number of nominees from various streaming service productions, then, there's never been a better time for Netflix, Prime Video, or even Apple TV Plus to land one or more of the biggest awards on the night.
Take the BAFTA 2022 Best Film category, for example. Three of the five nominees – Dune, The Power of the Dog, and Don't Look Up – were released as a Netflix film or an HBO Max movie.
True, all three received hybrid releases, also launching in theaters. But their appearance in the Best Film category continues to prove that the world's biggest streamers are powerful enough to take on theater-exclusive releases, such as the other Best Film nominees, Belfast and Licorice Pizza.
It isn't only the BAFTAs 2022 Best Film category that showcases the strength of Netflix and company, though.
In total, the most popular streaming platforms cumulatively amassed 51 nominations out of a possible 132. That includes 11 nominations for Dune, eight for The Power of the Dog, four apiece for Don't Look Up and King Richard, and three for Coda.
Sure, those 51 nominations only account for around 39% of the total number, but it's still a pretty extraordinary feat, given that the streaming of movies and TV shows has only become a regular occurrence in the past 10 to 15 years. That number could have been even higher, too, if the likes of Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog), Nicola Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick... Boom!), and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth) had earned nominations.
Considering that non-streaming films and TV series have been around for decades or even longer, it makes these BAFTA nominations for the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus all the more remarkable.
Curiously, two of the world's biggest franchises – Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – didn't receive a single nomination for any of their films or TV shows.
In 2020 alone, Marvel Studios released its first five MCU TV shows, such as WandaVision and Loki, while Star Wars projects including The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Visions also returned (or debuted) on Disney Plus. None of those, however, have earned a nomination.
Meanwhile, none of the MCU's 2020 film releases like Spider-Man: No Way Home were nominated, either – although, in No Way Home's case, the film wasn't made available to voters to watch online before the 2022 BAFTA nominations were announced.
Of course, award ceremonies like the BAFTAs, the Emmys, and the Oscars haven't traditionally nominated superhero or Star Wars properties for their most prestigious gongs. Still, it's pretty unusual that movies like Black Widow or Shang-Chi aren't up for awards including Special Visual Effects, Costume Design, or even Sound Design. Despite Black Panther's Oscar nomination in 2018, then, Marvel clearly has some way to go before it's taken seriously at the world's biggest award ceremonies.
Regardless, the 2022 BAFTA nominations paint a picture of the changing entertainment landscape. More and more movies and TV shows, which are available on, or exclusive to, streaming platforms are earning nominations for the world's biggest award ceremonies.
Netflix, Prime Video and company are giving us more ways to consume content as and when we see fit, and provided that they continue to pump out unmissable films and TV series we'll continue to subscribe to their services. That, in turn, will grow each streamer's revenue streams, meaning that they have more cash to pump into bigger and better movies and shows.
Do streaming platforms still have a way to go before they dominate award nominations lists? Yes. And, truth be told, theater-exclusive releases will always have a place at the Oscars and more. But the 2022 BAFTA nominees list once again showcases the true staying power of the world's biggest streamers.
