5 Surprising Oscar Snubs

The 2025 Oscar nominations were released Thursday—and as ever, critics had plenty to say about contenders they felt were overlooked. Five of the most-talked about snubs:

• Gladiator II. Gladiator was nominated for 12 Oscars, and won five, including best picture and best actor, but 24 years later, Ridley Scott's sequel was only nominated for best costume design, despite Denzel Washington's widely praised performance. "Heading into the fall, the Paramount blockbuster was seen as a potential awards juggernaut, with some expecting Scott to be a competitor for the best director prize," reports Variety.

• Daniel Craig. The British actor has yet to receive his first Oscar nomination and playing against type as a "lovesick drug addict" in Queer didn't get him one this time around, the New York Times reports. "Perhaps the surreal, sexually charged Queer was just too challenging for awards season," the Times suggests.
• Marie Jean-Baptiste. Her "often hilarious, incredibly sad performance as a very angry Black Londoner in Hard Truths has been championed by film critics from coast to coast," per the Washington Post, but she didn't get a nod from Academy voters.
• Angelina Jolie. "If there ever were a shoo-in for a nomination and an Oscar, on paper at least, it would be for Angelina Jolie playing opera legend Maria Callas," according to the AP, but she wasn't nominated for Maria.
• Challengers. The tennis love triangle drama didn't get a single nomination despite great performances from Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist, per the AV Club. Even "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' propulsive soundtrack" was overlooked, Variety notes.

(More Oscar nominations stories.)