Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps share a lot of similarities. They're both superhero movies released in July, they earned similar Rotten Tomatoes scores, and they even made fairly similar amounts at the box office, with Superman bringing in $616 million against First Steps' $521 million. Now, both movies have found themselves sharing something new: Placements on nomination shortlists.
According to Variety, the Critics Choice Association shared, for the first time in history, its shortlist for below-the-line awards for the 31st Critics Choice Awards. For those unaware, below-the-line is a term that stems from the budget sheet in a film. The sheet is split into two sections, an upper and a lower one. Those above the line are the people driving the decisions in the movie—actors, directors, and writers. Crew members below the line work on the technical side of production, such as makeup, cinematography, costume design and sound.
The categories nominated are: Best Casting and Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Stunt Design, Best Song, Best Score and Best Sound. Ryan Coogler' Sinners was the most prominent project in the categories, appearing in all 11 of them.
Both Superman and The Fantastic Four made it into different categories, with the former beating the latter in the amount of categories they made the shortlist for—but not by much. The DC Studios feature made it into four categories, while First Steps made it into three.
Below are the categories for which Superman made the shortlist (via Deadline):
- Best Hair & Makeup
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Stunt Design
- Best Sound
Below are the shortlist categories that The Fantastic Four: First Steps made it into:
- Best Production Design - Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis
- Best Costume Design - Alexandra Byrne
- Best Visual Effects
It's important to keep in mind these are not the nominations themselves. Instead, the Cricits Choice announced the candidates to be nominated. Voting is now taking place among more than 500 Critics Choice Association members (via Variety). Six projects from each of the 11 categories will be picked as official nominees.
The films both entered the shortlist for Best Visual Effects, which makes sense, given the CGI-heavy nature of both productions. With that said, the difference in the other shortlists they reached is interesting. For starters, it's intriguing that Superman did not make it into Best Costume Design, given that it featured multiple costumed characters, such as Superman himself, Ultraman, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, Green Lantern and the Engineer.
The shortlist placement does makes sense for The Fantastic Four, however. Not only were the team costumes remarkably well done, but Ralph Ineson also wore a practical suit for Galactus. As shown in BTS pictures posted by the actor, his costume was striking, on par with the detail and quality of its CGI counterpart.
It's also notable that First Steps was not nominated for Sound. Either way, this is not meant as some sort of competition between the two features. Simply an interesting piece of information, given the remarkably similar journeys both superhero films have gone on.
Per Variety, the nomination ballots are due December 3 for above-the-line nominations, and December 4 for below-the-line nominations. The official nominees will then be announced on December 5, in anticipation for the Critics Choice Awards, which will happen on January 4, 2026.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is streaming on Disney+. Superman is available on HBO Max.
Are you happy with Superman and First Steps reaching the nomination shortlist for the CCA? What other categories would you have liked to have seen the films in? Share your thoughts!