5 reasons 'Wonder Woman' was one of the most important films of 2017, and deserved a best picture Oscar nomination

Warner Bros. Pictures

• A lot of people predicted that "Wonder Woman" would get an Oscar nomination for best picture, but it didn't.
• Its impact on the industry and culture made it deserving of a nomination, and it was robbed.
• Even though "Wonder Woman" is a summer action and superhero movie, it was a huge cultural moment in a year that was empowering for women in many ways.

The most iconic best picture winners define their year, and their generation. And so do their fellow nominees. "Wonder Woman" defined 2017 in a lot of ways, and absolutely deserved to make the list of nominees, but it was robbed.

2017's "Moonlight," which beat the predicted winner "La La Land," marked the start of a big change in the industry. The film, which follows a gay black man from an impoverished neighborhood in Miami through multiple stages of his life, represented the kind of diverse storytelling that underrepresented storytellers had been fighting to get made.

The film, like "Wonder Woman," proved that these stories can work for everyone, and be universally loved.

Even without "Wonder Woman" in the line-up for best picture at the 2018 Oscars, the nominees, like gay coming-of-age story "Call Me by Your Name," prove a wave of change in cinematic storytelling has come. "Get Out," written and directed by Jordan Peele (who is now the fifth black man to be nominated in the directing category) is a horror satire about racism among white liberal elites. The female written, directed, and led "Lady Bird" focuses on a complicated relationship between a mother and daughter. Like "Wonder Woman," it has romance, but the film and its characters don't revolve around it.

Even so, "Wonder Woman" deserves to be among them, because it's also had a significant impact on Hollywood.

Here's why "Wonder Woman" deserved to be in the running for best picture at the 2018 Oscars: