Surprise? Disney Is Submitting 13 Avengers: Endgame Stars For Oscars Consideration

And just like that -- snaps -- Disney went from zero to 13 for Avengers: Endgame's acting Oscars campaign. It's possible Disney was just waiting to decide who to submit for consideration, or maybe the backlash to Robert Downey Jr. not being submitted was enough for The Powers That Be to decide to throw everyone into the mix.

At any rate, if you look at the official Disney Studios Awards site, the "Consider" section for Avengers: Endgame has been updated. It used to have the director, screenplay, editing, and other production categories, but nothing for acting.

Now you can see eight names nominated for Best Supporting Actor and five for Best Supporting Acctress. Looks like they are going the old school Game of Thrones route, putting everyone in the "supporting" categories as an equal ensemble, as opposed to elevating, say, Robert Downey Jr. into a lead role. Smart move to give him a better chance of actually being nominated -- even if he doesn't want that anyway?

Here are the actors being submitted for Academy Awards consideration, in the order Disney has them listed:

Surprise? To me, some of those names are very surprising.

Disney has to know perfectly well that any nominations are longshots. Robert Downey Jr. is the best bet -- and co-director Joe Russo made an impassioned argument for why RDJ deserves an Oscar for Avengers: Endgame. But it was a team effort to make this movie.

We keep on hearing how much went into making Endgame, which is now the highest-grossing movie of all time. It was clearly a success. And the Oscars are meant to honor the best of the best. So why not nominate as many people as possible from the most popular movie of 2019? It's a fair plan, and better than nominating no one.

That said, some of these are REALLY stretching it. Brie Larson for Avengers: Endgame? She's already an Oscar winner, and if you want to put her name in for Captain Marvel, have at it. She was barely in this movie. Same for Don Cheadle, which is probably why they are at the bottom of their respective submission lists. Scarlett Johansson had some powerful scenes as Black Widow, but out of all the times she could've been nominated for an Oscar, she has yet to get a nod. I would be surprised if the Academy started with Endgame.

But, anyway, good for Disney for throwing support behind the Avengers stars. It can't hurt. And they can say they did it. So it's a win-win even if no one actually gets an Oscar nomination.

When will we know if this plan worked out? The 92nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced Monday, January 13, 2020. The ceremony will be held February 9, 2020 and air on ABC. Any Academy members who somehow managed to avoid Endgame in theaters can watch it on Disney+ starting day one. Or just watch the screeners Disney will send.

Your hot take: Do you think any stars from Avengers: Endgame will be nominated for Academy Awards? If so, just RDJ or not? Who would you want to see get a nod?