They couldn’t possibly have scripted this to happen, but now that it’s happened, it feels like it was scripted somewhere – or that it was somehow destined, because for almost 15 years now, where there is Ryan Coogler, there is also often Michael B Jordan.

MBJ starred in Ryan’s first feature film, Fruitvale Station. From there it was the Creed films, the Black Panther films, and now Sinners – five films in total. They are both, currently, 39 years old. And they both became Oscar winners on the same night with Ryan winning Best Original Screenplay and MBJ the year’s Best Actor.

In total, Sinners won four Oscars, including Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw who became the first woman in history to triumph in this category… which, of course, is f-cking crazy since the Oscars are two years from turning 100 but, at the same time, f-cking awesome for her, not only being the first but now the first to do it is a woman of colour, working on a film that celebrates Black art. The way she asked all the women in the theatre to stand up during her acceptance speech was one of the most powerful moments of the night. And – her OUTFIT! We’re all waking up with a crush on Autumn today, right?

@oscars

Autumn Durald Arkapaw (SINNERS) moments after making herstory as the first woman and woman of color to win the Oscar for Cinematography. #oscars #sinners #herstory

♬ original sound - The Oscars

Like Ryan and MBJ, Autumn and Ryan are frequent collaborators. They’ll be working together again on The X-Files, the pilot has just been greenlit at Hulu. My point is, Ryan is building his own creative community and if we’re looking at Hollywood equivalents, Martin Scorsese has actors he works with often, and Thelma Schoonmaker has been editing his films for five decades. Ryan now has his own team too – in addition to MBJ and Autumn, Ludwig Göransson has scored all of Ryan’s feature films.

It’s been obvious, if you’ve been reading this site over the last year, or longer, which way our team was voting for Best Picture. As Sarah has been telling us, though, the editing category is often the best indicator of which way the Academy will swing. As soon as One Battle After Another won for editing, Sarah had called it on our live-chat over at The Squawk that, though Sinners was coming close and picking up momentum over the last few weeks, and especially after the SAGs, OBAA would prevail as Best Picture, since the two categories, Picture and Editing, often go hand-in-hand.

Of course it would have been that much sweeter for the Sinners team had they won the final award of the night. But Ryan kinda pulled a Beyoncé didn’t he? His speech when he won Best Original Screenplay said it all, not unlike what Beyoncé used to do at the Grammys, before she finally won Album of the Year for COWBOY CARTER, when she’d be the most nominated artist but would never win the major Grammys. So in her speeches for Best Pop or whatever she’d say everything she needed or wanted to say, anticipating that it wouldn’t happen – and she’d be right.

Ryan’s speech last night reminded me of the same. And, indeed, he used the opportunity wisely, he thanked who he need to thank. With both MBJ and Autumn’s wins that followed, there was that much more to celebrate. These are not people who waste time on disappointment. They have more stories to tell, they have collaborators to tell them with.

And that was part of the message of the performance, recreating the scene in the film in the juke joint, turning the Oscars stage into a jam session and a showcase of cultural and artistic diversity. Plus ballet, which had nothing to do with anyone else, FFS. Apparently there were some idiots on socials suggesting that Misty Copeland was added to the performance just because some guy talked some sh-t about fine arts. How is it that TikTok isn’t aware that there’s ballet in Sinners?

To go back to MBJ, then, and his win – first of all it was pretty obvious a few weeks ago at the SAG Awards how popular he is with the actors, because his path to this point must be relatable to so many of them. He was on soap operas, he played so many supporting roles in television before teaming up with Ryan. Michael B Jordan hasn’t skipped any of the steps. But he hasn’t made it a campaign issue, because he hasn’t had to. Clearly he’s built up enough goodwill in the industry with that resumé where they already know.

I’ve watched his winning moment four times now and for me it’s the way Ryan runs down from his seat in the fifth row to hug his friend and collaborator, and then runs back to his seat in the fifth row right away so as to not take up too much of the moment. It’s so cute, I can’t stop.

Here’s MBJ with Leonardo DiCaprio sharing a very, very long hug, clearly a lot of emotion here.

But the best part is how he processed that emotion: Michael B Jordan took his Oscar to In’N’Out. He’s wouldn’t be the first Oscar winner to hit up In’N’Out after the Governors Ball but there’s something about the way everyone is reacting to him, like he’s one of their own making it big, that makes him winning that much more charming. 

That said, it’s not like he was skipping the traditional victory lap. Of course there was a wardrobe change before the Vanity Fair party where he showed up in a brown suit. 

Between the two looks, I prefer the black one, custom Louis Vuitton, and it was the right choice for the Oscars proper. His best fit of this award season.

Michael B. Jordan (and family), Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Goransson, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw at the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026

Michael B. Jordan at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party & Ryan Coogler and Autumn Durald Arkapaw at the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026

Photo credits: PA Images/Valerie Goodloe/MediaPunch/INSTARimages, Chelsea Lauren/RYAN SUN/EPA/Shutterstock

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