“Ruth Bader Ginsburg leads the MTV Movie and TV Awards nominations” was not a sentence I expected to write today or ever, but indeed she does. The documentary about her life and career, “RBG,” has a field leading four nominations, which ties it with “Avengers: Endgame” and “Game of Thrones” as the top contender at these kudos, which will air on Monday night, June 17, at 9:00pm Eastern and Pacific.
“Endgame” earned bids for Best Movie, Best Hero (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Villain (Josh Brolin) and Best Fight (Chris Evans vs. Brolin). That’s one more nomination than “Infinity War” received last year: that movie was up for Movie, Villain and Fight, but didn’t win anything. Marvel was still well represented, though, as “Black Panther” was the 2018 champ for Best Movie. The first “Avengers” won three awards including Best Movie, so this would be a nice bookend for the franchise. Also nominated for Best Movie are a pair of Oscar winners (“BlacKkKlansman” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), a Netflix original (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) and Jordan Peele‘s latest horror film “Us.”
“Game of Thrones,” meanwhile, is in the running for Best Show, Best Performance in a Show (Emilia Clark), Best Hero (Maisie Williams) and Best Fight (Maisie Williams vs. the White Walkers). The HBO series previously earned six nominations since MTV added TV shows to its awards, including Best Show for the last two years in a row, but despite being a pop culture juggernaut the series hasn’t won any Golden Popcorn statues yet. Interestingly, Clarke earned a Best Hero nomination last year for her performance as Daenerys Targaryen, which in hindsight was a little premature. Joining “Thrones” in the race for Best Show are Netflix’s “Big Mouth” and “The Haunting of Hill House,” Pop’s “Schitt’s Creek” and the CW’s “Riverdale.”
“RBG” doesn’t contend for Best Movie, but it is up for Best Documentary, Best Real-Life Hero (Ginsburg herself), Best Fight (Ginsburg vs. inequality) and Best Meme-able Moment. The categories for real-life heroes and meme-able moments are both brand new to the awards this year, as is the Reality Royalty contest.
Who do you think will win? The champs will be decided by fans voting online here.
BEST MOVIE
“Avengers: Endgame”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
“Us”
BEST SHOW
“Big Mouth”
“Game of Thrones”
“Riverdale”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“The Haunting of Hill House”
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Amandla Stenberg (Starr Carter) – “The Hate U Give”
Lady Gaga (Ally) – “A Star is Born”
Lupita Nyong’o (Red) – “Us”
Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Sandra Bullock (Malorie) – “Bird Box”
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne/Offred) – “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) – “Game of Thrones”
Gina Rodriguez (Jane Villanueva) – “Jane the Virgin”
Jason Mitchell (Brandon) – “The Chi”
Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman) – “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”
BEST HERO
Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel) – “Captain Marvel”
John David Washington (Ron Stallworth) – “BlacKkKlansman”
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) – “Game of Thrones”
Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) – “Avengers: Endgame”
Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) – “Shazam!”
BEST VILLAIN
Jodie Comer (Villanelle) – “Killing Eve”
Joseph Fiennes (Commander Fred Waterford) – “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Josh Brolin (Thanos) – “Avengers: Endgame”
Lupita Nyong’o (Red) – “Us”
Penn Badgley (Joe Goldberg) – “You”
BEST KISS
Camila Mendes & Charles Melton (Veronica Lodge & Reggie Mantle) – “Riverdale”
Jason Momoa & Amber Heard (Aquaman & Mera) – “Aquaman”
Ncuti Gatwa & Connor Swindells (Eric Effiong & Adam Groff) – “Sex Education”
Noah Centineo & Lana Condor (Peter Kavinsky & Lara Jean) – “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
Tom Hardy & Michelle Williams (Eddie Brock/Venom & Anne Weying) – “Venom”
REALITY ROYALTY
“Jersey Shore: Family Vacation”
“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”
“The Bachelor”
“The Challenge”
“Vanderpump Rules”
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) – “Crazy Rich Asians”
Dan Levy (David Rose) – “Schitt’s Creek”
John Mulaney (Andrew Glouberman) – “Big Mouth”
Marsai Martin (Little Jordan Sanders) – “Little”
Zachary Levi (Billy Batson/Shazam) – “Shazam!”
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Awkwafina (Peik Lin Goh) – “Crazy Rich Asians”
Haley Lu Richardson (Stella) – “Five Feet Apart”
Mj Rodriguez (Blanca Rodriguez) – “Pose”
Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong) – “Sex Education”
Noah Centineo (Peter Kavinsky) – “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
BEST FIGHT
“Avengers: Endgame” – Captain America vs. Thanos
“Captain Marvel” – Captain Marvel vs. Minn-Erva
“Game of Thrones” – Arya Stark vs. the White Walkers
“RBG” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. Inequality
“WWE Wrestlemania” – Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
BEST REAL-LIFE HERO
Alex Honnold – “Free Solo”
Hannah Gadsby – “Nanette”
Roman Reigns – “WWE SmackDown”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – “RBG”
Serena Williams – “Being Serena”
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE
Alex Wolff (Peter) – “Hereditary”
Linda Cardellini (Anna Tate-Garcia) – “The Curse of La Llorona”
Rhian Rees (Dana Haines) – “Halloween”
Sandra Bullock (Malorie) – “Bird Box”
Victoria Pedretti (Nell Crain) – “The Haunting of Hill House”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal”
“McQueen”
“Minding the Gap”
“RBG”
“Surviving R. Kelly”
BEST HOST
Gayle King – “CBS This Morning”
Nick Cannon – “Wild ‘n Out”
Nick Cannon – “The Masked Singer”
RuPaul – “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Trevor Noah – “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
MOST MEME-ABLE MOMENT
“Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club” – The Lilo Dance
“Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” – Ray J’s Hat
“RBG” – The Notorious RBG
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” – Asia O’Hara’s butterfly finale fail
“The Bachelor” – Colton Underwood jumps the fence
