‘WandaVision,’ ‘Emily in Paris,’ ‘The Boys’ Lead MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominations

Television dominated the roster of nominees for the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards, which returns this May after a year-long hiatus due, at least in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the kind of crowd-pleasing, popcorn-ready films that the MTV awards show normally celebrates mostly delayed due to the pandemic, TV has taken a front seat this year.

Leading this year’s roster of nominees, announced on Monday: Marvel’s Disney Plus series “WandaVision,” which earned five nods — including best show, best performance in a show (Elizabeth Olsen), best hero (Teyonah Parris), best villain (Kathryn Hahn) and best fight (Wanda vs. Agatha).

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Receiving four nods were Netflix’s “Emily In Paris” (which is produced by MTV Studios) and Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys.” Earning three are Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” and the most-recognized film of the year, Amazon Studios’ “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”

Simultaneously, MTV also announced the nominees for the first-ever edition of its spin-off ceremony “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted.” In that show, VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race leads all nominees with four, followed by two for TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé,” Netflix’s “Bling Empire,” HBO Max’s “Legendary,” VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, MTV’s “The Challenge,” Netflix’s “Nailed It!” and MTV’s ubiquitous “Ridiculousness.”

In 2018, the show first integrated TV and film into joint categories such as “Best Hero,” “Best Villain,” “Best Duo,” “Best Fight” and “Best Comedic Performance.” This year, that means the majority of those categories are represented by TV. For example, best breakthrough performance has just one film entry (Maria Bakalova, from “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), while the rest are from streaming shows like “Ginny & Georgia,” “Emily in Paris,” “Normal People” and “Bridgerton.”

Speaking of streaming, that’s how audiences watch TV now — and nearly every TV nominee comes from a streaming service, with the exception of single nods for “I May Destroy You,” “Killing Eve,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Lovecraft Country.”

Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) received a posthumous nomination in the movie performance category this year. First-time nominees include Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”), Zendaya (“Malcom & Marie”), Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”), Emma Corrin (“The Crown”), Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You”), Anthony Mackie (“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), Jack Quaid (“The Boys”), Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”), Teyonah Parris (“WandaVision”), Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”), Eric Andre (“Bad Trip”), Leslie Jones (“Coming 2 America”), Aya Cash (“The Boys”), Giancarlo Esposito (“The Mandalorian”), Kathryn Hahn (“WandaVision”), Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”), Antonia Gentry (“Ginny & Georgia”), Ashley Park (“Emily in Paris”), Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Paul Mescal (“Normal People”), Regé-Jean Page (“Bridgerton”), Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”) and Simona Brown (“Behind Her Eyes”).

For most of its existence, the telecast was known as the MTV Movie Awards, taking advantage of the spring kickoff of the summer box office season. In 2017, the name was changed to the “MTV Movie & TV Awards” and included television series for the first time. Also that year, the network went gender-neutral, embracing a decision to merge male and female performers into singular categories. Last year, MTV decided to move the Movie & TV Awards to December, in order to capitalize on the start of movie awards season. But the pandemic put that decision on hold, and ultimately instead the network ran the special “MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time,” hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, in December.

The 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” will air live on Sunday, May 16 from the Palladium in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET; the inaugural “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted” will air the following night, May 17 at 9 p.m. ET.

The MTV Movie & TV Awards will be executive produced by Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski on behalf of Den of Thieves. Additional details about the 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” and “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted,” including hosts, presenters and more will be announced in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, MTV has opened up fan voting in 25 gender-neutral categories at vote.mtv.com through April 30.

Here are this year’s nominees:

BEST MOVIE

“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Soul”
“To All the Boys: Always and Forever”

BEST SHOW

“Bridgerton”
“Cobra Kai”
“Emily in Paris”
“The Boys”
“WandaVision”

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE

Carey Mulligan – “Promising Young Woman”
Chadwick Boseman – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Daniel Kaluuya – “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Sacha Baron Cohen – “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Zendaya – “Malcolm & Marie”

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW

Anya Taylor-Joy – “The Queen’s Gambit”
Elizabeth Olsen – “WandaVision”
Elliot Page – “The Umbrella Academy”
Emma Corrin – “The Crown”
Michaela Coel – “I May Destroy You”

BEST HERO

Anthony Mackie – “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”
Gal Gadot – “Wonder Woman 1984”
Jack Quaid – “The Boys”
Pedro Pascal – “The Mandalorian”
Teyonah Parris – “WandaVision”

BEST KISS

Chase Stokes & Madelyn Cline – “Outer Banks”
Jodie Comer & Sandra Oh – “Killing Eve”
Lily Collins & Lucas Bravo – “Emily in Paris”
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan & Jaren Lewison – “Never Have I Ever”
Regé-Jean Page & Phoebe Dynevor – “Bridgerton”

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE

Annie Murphy – “Schitt’s Creek”
Eric Andre – “Bad Trip”
Issa Rae – “Insecure”
Jason Sudeikis – “Ted Lasso”
Leslie Jones – “Coming 2 America”

BEST VILLAIN

Aya Cash – “The Boys
Ewan McGregor – “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)”
Giancarlo Esposito – “The Mandalorian”
Kathryn Hahn – “WandaVision”
Nicholas Hoult – “The Great”

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Antonia Gentry – “Ginny & Georgia”
Ashley Park – “Emily in Paris”
Maria Bakalova – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Paul Mescal – “Normal People”
Regé-Jean Page – “Bridgerton”

BEST FIGHT

“Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” – Final Funhouse Fight
“Cobra Kai” – Finale House Fight
“The Boys” – Starlight, Queen Maeve, Kimiko vs. Stormfront
“WandaVision” – Wanda vs. Agatha
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” – Final Fight vs. Steppenwolf

MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE

Elisabeth Moss – “The Invisible Man”
Jurnee Smollett – “Lovecraft Country”
Simona Brown – “Behind Her Eyes”
Victoria Pedretti – “The Haunting of Bly Manor”
Vince Vaughn – “Freaky”

BEST DUO

“Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar” – Star (Kristen Wiig) & Barb (Annie Mumolo)
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” – Falcon (Anthony Mackie) & Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
“The Mandalorian” – Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) & Grogu
“Emily in Paris” – Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) & Mindy Chen (Ashley Park)
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” – Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) & Tutar Sagdiyev (Maria Bakalova)

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES, UNSCRIPTED:

BEST DOCU-REALITY SHOW

“Below Deck Mediterranean”
“Black Ink Crew New York”
“Bling Empire”
“Jersey Shore Family Vacation”
“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”

BEST DATING SHOW

“90 Day Fiancé”
“Ex On The Beach”
“Love Is Blind”
“Ready to Love”
“The Bachelorette”

BEST REALITY CAST

“90 Day Fiancé”
“Jersey Shore Family Vacation”
“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”

BEST COMPETITION SERIES

“Legendary”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
“The Challenge”
“The Circle”
“The Masked Singer”

BEST LIFESTYLE SHOW

“Deliciousness”
“Fixer Upper: Welcome Home”
“Making The Cut”
“Nailed It!”
“Queer Eye”

BEST NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES

“Bling Empire”
“Cardi Tries”
“Selena + Chef”
“The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City”
“VH1 Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition”

BEST TALK / TOPICAL SHOW

“A Little Late with Lilly Singh”
“Red Table Talk”
“The Breakfast Club”
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
“Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen”

BEST COMEDY / GAME SHOW

“Floor Is Lava”
“Impractical Jokers”
“Kids Say the Darndest Things”
“Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out”
“Ridiculousness”

BEST HOST

Nicole Byer – “Nailed It!”
Rob Dyrdek – “Ridiculousness”
RuPaul – “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
T.J. Lavin – “The Challenge”
Tiffany Haddish – “Kids Say the Darndest Things”

BREAKTHROUGH SOCIAL STAR

Addison Rae
Bretman Rock
Charli D’Amelio
Jalaiah Harmon
Rickey Thompson

BEST REAL-LIFE MYSTERY OR CRIME SERIES

“Catfish: The TV Show”
“Evil Lives Here”
“Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer”
“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness”
“Unsolved Mysteries”

BEST FIGHT

“Selling Sunset” – Chrishell Stause vs. Christine Quinn
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” – Jackie Goldschneider vs. Teresa Giudice
“Untucked: RuPaul’s Drag Race” – Kandy Muse vs. Tamisha Iman
“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” – Kourtney Kardashian vs. Kim Kardashian West
“Legendary” – Law Roach vs. Guest Judge Dominique Jackson

BEST INTERNATIONAL REALITY SERIES

“Acapulco Shore”
“Geordie Shore”
“Love Island (UK)”
“¡Nailed it! México”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race UK”

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