After Will Smith shocked the entire world at last year's Oscars, the road to the upcoming Academy Awards has been set with the recent release of nominations. While films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Banshees of Inisherin dominating the scene, there are several snubs that are catching everyone's attention, such as Tom Cruise not getting the Best Actor nomination for Top Gun: Maverick. Along with the actor, we take a look at the biggest Oscar snubs for this year's Academy Awards.

Tom Cruise and the 4 biggest Oscar nominations snubs that make no sense

Tom Cruise yelling, Mission Impossible, COVID-19

5. Taylor Swift

When you're going to hold the most prestigious awards night of the year, it only makes sense to go all out and get the biggest artists to perform. With that thought in mind, winners of the Best Original Song would go on to perform their piece live during the Oscars. In this case, though, not giving Taylor Swift a nomination in this category makes no sense at all.

For starters, Swift's song for Where The Crawdads Sing, Carolina, has already been nominated for the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards. It's only right to follow the lead of these two award-giving bodies and recognize a song by one of the chosen few who commands such a strong following these days. And in the hypothetical scenario where Swift wins an Oscar for her song, the idea of the artist performing it live will surely generate tons of hype for the ceremony. But as it stands, that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

4. Baz Luhrmann

Without a doubt, Elvis is one of the best films to have been released last year. The movie itself is a revelation as Austin Butler would go on to impress viewers and critics alike with his performance of the King himself. With the young star bagging the Best Actor award from the most recent Golden Globes, there's really a lot of hype for Elvis as the Academy Awards closely approaches.

The thing is, there should at least be some form of recognition for the man who brought the vision of this movie to life – Baz Luhrmann. Elvis itself received eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Austin Butler. Meanwhile, Luhrmann himself didn't get ant nomination for Best Director. All things considered, this is a baffling decision on the part of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since Elvis not only earned $287.3 million during its run, but it also scooped several major awards before the Oscar nominations were released, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor. Only time will tell if this snub will make sense at all, especially after the winners are announced.

3. Ryan Coogler

The recent announcement of Oscar nominations this year has been a big win for Marvel. As it stands, Angela Bassett's nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the first big one for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But just like Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, and others, Ryan Coogler was left in the dark without a nomination for the upcoming ceremony.

While the Black Panther sequel isn't the tour de force when it comes to Oscar films, it has transcended most superhero movies out there. The use of Chadwick Boseman's passing and incorporating his death into the story itself has worked wonders for Wakanda Forever, leading Bassett's performance to clearly stand out. Without Coogler's vision and perseverance behind the camera to get this film over the hump, Black Panther would have sunk even before it can swim. That's why Coogler's snub from the Oscars is a gut punch, especially for those who have worked hard to bring the MCU film to life.

2. James Cameron

Similar to how Ryan Coogler was snubbed for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Baz Luhrmann for Elvis, James Cameron also experienced the same fate for Avatar: The Way of Water. Even with the film grossing more than $2 billion, all thanks to the sheer will and vision of Cameron, it still isn't enough for the Academy to recognize the effort with a Best Director nod. And unlike his win for the said award back in 1998 for Titanic and a nomination for the first Avatar film, it seems Cameron will have to watch from the side as other nominees slug it out for Best Director.

1. Tom Cruise

Top Gun: Maverick was one of the best films of 2022 and it rightfully deserves the Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay nods from the Academy recently. But in all of these wins is Tom Cruise hanging around without a nomination for Best Actor. Many thought that since the race for the said award isn't filled with high-profile projects and actors, Cruise would have been a sure shot for at least a nomination.  But alas, the Top Gun lead would have to settle with its six other nominations.

If it wins Best Picture, though, that also means Cruise wins because he's the movie's producer. But it'll be more than a month before anything is known yet since the Oscars will be held on March 12. It remains to be seen how the hype for the Academy Awards will go until that time, or if these snubs can win it