MTV Announces 2021 Movie & TV Awards Nominees: ‘WandaVision’, ‘Emily in Paris’ in the Lead

The 2020 content that kept us sane, made us crazy, or otherwise checked into social media will get its due this May when MTV rolls out its awards for movies, television, and the reality show universe as part of the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards, which have just announced this year’s nominations.

In what the network describes as an “epic two-night Los Angeles takeover,” it will split out its award-giving for dramatic and reality-based programming. The MTV Movie & TV Awards will air Sunday, May 16 at 9/8c, live from the Palladium in LA, while Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED will follow on Monday, May 17 at 9/8c. The hosts and presenters for either show have not yet been announced, nor have any COVID-19 protocols. Maybe the presenters will toss the winners their gilded MTV popcorn buckets from across an expanse of Palladium stage. We’ll see!

But in order to win, you have to be nominated, and to that end, there are some heavy-hitters on the scripted side. WandaVision leads the field with five nominations, including Best Show, Elizabeth Olsen for Best Performance In A Show, Teyonah Parris for Best Hero, and Kathryn Hahn for Best Villain, as well as Olsen vs. Hahn for Best Fight. Emily In Paris is up for Best Show, too, plus Lily Collins & Lucas Bravo for that MTV awards show favorite, Best Kiss.

The Best Movie category, meanwhile, includes noms for Promising Young Woman (with Carey Mulligan also being nominated in the Best Performance category), Judas and the Black Messiah, Soul, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, for which Maria Bakalova also grabbed a Breakthrough Performance nomination. Meanwhile, Bakalova and Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, have some stiff competition in the Best Duo field, including Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo for the zany Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar.

Fans will be able to vote for their favorites in all 25 categories via vote.mtv.com through April 30. 

On the reality/unscripted side of things, RuPal’s Drag Race leads all comers with four nominations, including Best Cast and Best Host. There are straightforward categories for Best Dating Show (90 Day Fiance, The Bachelorette, etc.), Best Competition Series (The Circle, The Challenge, Drag Race again), and Best Comedy/Game Show (Floor is Lava, Ridiculousness). But MTV also drills into the peculiarities of the reality show landscape with such categories as Best Fight — Chrishell Stause vs. Christine Quinn on Selling Sunset! Kourtney vs. Kim on Keeping Up With The Kardashians! — and Best Breakthrough Social Star, where the nominees include Addison Rae and Bretman Rock. 

Somewhat curiously, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was only nominated once, for Best Real-Life Mystery or Crime Series. Perhaps its manic social media takeover of Pandemic’s early stages has just receded too far into Lockdown Life’s rearview mirror. In any case, we’ll learn who bested who in the above categories, as well as Most Frightened Performance — don’t ever change, Music Television — when the MTV Movie & TV Awards and Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED take to the airwaves this coming May.

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES, SCRIPTED:

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 (brought to you by SONIC® Drive-In)

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 (ITV)

¡Nailed it! México

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK