Joker: Oscar winner?!?

It could happen. And it really looks more likely tonight, after Joaquin Phoenix won the Best Actor Golden Globe for his work as Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips’ Joker. Against extremely tough competition — Christian Bale from Ford v Ferrari, Antonio Banderas from Pain and Glory, Adam Driver from Marriage Story, and Jonathan Pryce from The Two Popes — Phoenix pulled off the big win in what’s considered one of the key preliminary awards in the run-up to the Oscars.

Phoenix previous won the Golden Globe for his performance as Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line. He’s been nominated for three Oscars in his career — for Walk the Line, along with Gladiator and The Master — but never won an Academy Award. He’s certainly one of the frontrunners this year, but he does have major competition. He’ll be up against all the same men he beat at the Globes, plus all the potential nominees from the “Musical or Comedy” acting category, which this year includes Leonardo DiCaprio from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Taron Egerton from Rocketman, and Eddie Murphy from Dolemite Is My Name. (Unlike the Globes, which divide the nominees into two categories, there’s just one Best Actor award at the Oscars.)

This year’s Academy Award nominees will be announced on January 13. It would be shocking if Phoenix wasn’t at least nominated — but can he win?

Gallery — Our Favorite Joker Easter Eggs:

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