Critics' reactions to "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" are starting to trickle in and Chadwick Boseman's final onscreen performance is being touted as "as invigorating as anticipated."
That's good news not only for Boseman's legacy, but also for the late actor's Oscar chances, which are high this year since he has not one but two movies for which he could potentially be nominated.
The first is the aforementioned "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," in which he is being campaigned in lead actor by Netflix. Starring opposite Oscar winner Viola Davis, Boseman plays trumpeteer Levee, an enigmatic and ambitious musician.
Some have argued that he may have been better placed in supporting, where he might have more of a chance to win, but Netflix have decided he is best placed in lead since he has a commanding presence in the adaptation about a 1920s blues singer.
It's a shrewd decision given the fact that the second movie Boseman could be nominated for is also a Netflix movie: Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods." Boseman plays "Stormin'" Norman Earl Holloway, the leader of a squad of Black US Army soldiers during the Vietnam war.
This role is more clearly a supporting one — Boseman appears in flashbacks during the Vietnam War timeline, wherein the present day story follows Delroy Lindo's character, Paul, travelling back to Vietnam many years later.
The actor, then, could theoretically earn two Oscar nominations this awards season, in the same way Jamie Foxx did back in 2005 when he was nominated in supporting actor for "Collateral" and won in lead actor for "Ray," a biopic of blind singer Ray Charles.
Boseman died in August following a four-year battle with colon cancer.
If he did manage to earn one or even both of those nominations, he would be only the seventh actor to earn a posthumous Oscar nomination. If he were to win, he'd just be the third actor to win posthumously ever.
Scroll down for a full list of actors nominated posthumously for an Academy Award.