The 97th Academy Awards aired last Sunday, featuring a cavalcade of one of cinema’s strongest selections in years, as well as the remarkably-seasoned Conan O’Brien hosting. As with any Oscars event, this year came with scandalous rumors, a catty monologue, and no shortage of fan reactions over who did, or didn’t, deserve to take home the golden statue.

O’Brien, who was recently announced as the next recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this coming March, made headlines as soon as the 2025 Academy Awards announced him as the host. Fan reactions leading up to the event praised the decision, citing his decades-long work in comedy, and previous successes hosting other awards events.

This choice proved to start the evening off with a refreshing change of pace, and could be the reason that the 2025 Oscars had its highest viewership in five years. While the host himself delighted audiences, cinephiles and casual fans of movies all had their usual mixed bag of joy and grief in reaction to the winners this last Sunday.

“Nickel Boys”, “The Apprentice”, “Sing Sing”, “A Complete Unknown”, and “Nosferatu”, took home no awards despite their nominations and critical acclaim this past year, to the dismay of many viewers with their own individual gripes. “Nosferatu” fans who feel the horror genre is far too overlooked, and Sebastian Stan fans who felt his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice” was more impressive than Adrian Brody’s Oscar-winning role in the “Brutalist”.

Revered actors like Ralph Feinnes (“Conclave”) went another year with just a nomination to take home, which caused some fan backlash, where many Oscars viewers cite the Academy’s flawed voting process. One example that fans have not recovered from was Al Pacino’s own Oscar win in 1992 for “Scent of a Woman”; essentially, the consensus is that Pacino earned an oscar for his legendary portrayal in “The Godfather” 20 years prior and only received one in the ’90s because he was owed a win.

As surely as there will be drama at the Academy Awards, there will also be celebration for once-in-a-lifetime career highlights for veteran actors as well as those just being noticed for their craft.

Twenty-five year-old Mikey Madison took home Best Actress for “Anora”, which also won Best Picture, along with three other Oscars that evening. While the run-time of the “Brutalist” was joked about in and out of the monologue, the film took home an Oscar nonetheless, and Best Actor winner Adrien Brody ironically accepted it with the longest speech in Oscar history at five minutes and 36 seconds.

Zoe Saldana also delivered an impassioned speech for her film, “Emilia Perez”, which was not immune to controversy regarding LGBTQIA+ and Mexican representation; staff reporter Melany Velasco dives deep on the situation in the Thunderword’s first Spanish language article.

The musical acts also spared no expense, capitalizing on fan favorites, as well as references to projects that still have yet to come.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande performed music from “Wicked”, while Lisa (BLACKPINK), RAYE, and Doja Cat performed a James Bond medley, which could have been a foreshadowing of incoming James Bond projects at Amazon Prime, due to a recently announced joint venture that will give Amazon creative control of the franchise.

Fans have speculated that Margaret Qualley’s dance during the James Bond performance was also a hint that she will be a Bond girl in a future film, though casting for any part in the franchise is still up in the air.

Now that the 2025 Academy Awards have passed, viewers are looking forward to the incoming films of ’25 through ’26 and starting their speculation all over again. Some movies, like the anticipated “Wicked” and “Dune” sequels are slowly gaining momentum as on-set details are shared, while other films will likely have to earn their excitement from scratch. 

After this year’s success, the showrunners of the 2026 Academy Awards will surely have big shoes to fill (I mean, according to ABC News, Conan O’Brien does reportedly wear a size 12 and a half.)

*Liv Lyons has been an editor for the Thunderword since 2023. Their short story blog, “Loser Pulp“, is released twice a month.