‘Black Panther’ And ‘Stranger Things’ Top Less Progressive 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards Nominations

MTV announced the nominees for the second  MTV Movie and TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) and after combining the two genres for the first time a year ago there were some category changes this time around.  Gone are some of the more intriguing categories such as Best Host, Next Generation, Best American Story, Best Fight Against The System, Tearjerker, Best Duo, “Trending” and Musical Moment.  Reality TV Competition is simply just Reality Series/Franchise (yes, “Franchise”) which finds “RuPaul’s Drag Race” the only “competition” show to get nominated in the new format and, sadly, Best Documentary is now just Best Music Documentary.  Sure, pop culture blockbuster “Black Panther” led all films and shows with seven nods, but these changes are slightly disconcerting.

Tiffany Haddish will host the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards

New categories include Most Frightened Performance, Best Onscreen-Team (expanding Best Duo, it appears) and Scene Stealer (one way to make sure host Tiffany Haddish wins at least one statue in case she loses in Comedic Performance to Kate McKinnon, Amy Schumer or Jack Black).

Frankly, it’s an appalling jump for the telecast to be so inherently less progressive, but the bottom line must be speaking at Viacom these days and perhaps the return of producer and director Joe Gallen (who helped created the original MTV Movie Awards) had something to do with it.

Beyond “Black Panther,” “Stranger Things” earned six while “It” took four.  A number of movies and televised content programs earned three including “Game of Thrones,” “Riverdale,” “Girl’s Trip,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Ready Player One.”  Best Picture winner “The Shape Of Water” came away empty handed not even getting a nod in the Best Kiss category.

The 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards will be handed out on Monday, June 18. This year’s nominees are as follows:

BEST MOVIE
Avengers: Infinity War (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Black Panther (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Girls Trip (Universal Pictures)
IT (New Line Cinema)
Wonder Woman (Warner Bros. Pictures)

BEST SHOW
13 Reasons Why (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
grown-ish (Freeform)
Riverdale (The CW)
Stranger Things (Netflix)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Chadwick Boseman – Black Panther
Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
Ansel Elgort – Baby Driver
Daisy Ridley – Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things
Darren Criss – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Katherine Langford – 13 Reasons Why
Issa Rae – Insecure
Maisie Williams – Game of Thrones

BEST HERO
Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) – Black Panther
Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) – Game of Thrones
Gal Gadot (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman) – Wonder Woman
Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/The Flash) – The Flash
Daisy Ridley (Rey) – Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST VILLAIN
Josh Brolin (Thanos) – Avengers: Infinity War
Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) – Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Michael B. Jordan (N’Jadaka/Erik Killmonger) – Black Panther
Aubrey Plaza (Lenny Busker) – Legion
Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise) – IT

BEST KISS
Jane the Virgin – Gina Rodriguez (Jane) and Justin Baldoni (Rafael)
Love, Simon – Nick Robinson (Simon) and Keiynan Lonsdale (Bram)
Ready Player One – Olivia Cooke (Sam) and Tye Sheridan (Wade)
Riverdale – KJ Apa (Archie) and Camila Mendes (Veronica)
Stranger Things – Finn Wolfhard (Mike) and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven)

MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE
Talitha Bateman (Janice) – Annabelle: Creation
Emily Blunt (Evelyn Abbott) – A Quiet Place
Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh) – IT
Cristin Milioti (Nanette Cole) – Black Mirror
Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) – Stranger Things

BEST ON-SCREEN TEAM
Black Panther – Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/ Black Panther), Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Letitia Wright (Shuri)
IT – Finn Wolfhard (Richie), Sophia Lillis (Beverly), Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie), Wyatt Oleff (Stanley), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Chosen Jacobs (Mike)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Dwayne Johnson (Smolder), Kevin Hart (Mouse), Jack Black (Shelly), Karen Gillan (Ruby), Nick Jonas (Seaplane)
Ready Player One – Tye Sheridan (Wade), Olivia Cooke (Samantha), Philip Zhao (Sho), Win Morisaki (Daito), Lena Waithe (Aech)
Stranger Things – Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Sadie Sink (Max)

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Jack Black – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip
Dan Levy – Schitt’s Creek
Kate McKinnon – SNL
Amy Schumer – I Feel Pretty

SCENE STEALER
Tiffany Haddish (Dina) – Girls Trip
Dacre Montgomery (Billy Hargrove) – Stranger Things
Madelaine Petsch (Cheryl Blossom) – Riverdale
Taika Waititi (Korg) – Thor: Ragnarok
Letitia Wright (Shuri) – Black Panther

BEST FIGHT
Atomic Blonde – Charlize Theron (Lorraine) vs. Daniel Hargrave (Sniper), Greg Rementer (Spotter)
Avengers: Infinity War – Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) vs. Carrie Coon (Proxima Midnight)
Black Panther – Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) vs. Winston Duke (M’Baku)
Thor: Ragnarok – Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) vs. Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
Wonder Woman – Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) vs. German Soldiers

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story
Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated
Gaga: Five Foot Two
Jay-Z’s “Footnotes for 4:44”
The Defiant Ones

BEST REALITY SERIES/ FRANCHISE
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Love & Hip Hop
The Real Housewives
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Vanderpump Rules

NOMINATION COUNT BY MOVIE
Black Panther: 7
IT: 4
Girls Trip: 3
Avengers: Infinity War: 3
Wonder Woman: 3
Star Wars: The Last Jedi: 3
Ready Player One: 2
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: 2
Thor: Ragnarok: 2
Annabelle Creation: 1
A Quiet Place: 1
Atomic Blonde: 1
Baby Driver: 1
Call Me by Your Name: 1
I Feel Pretty: 1
Lady Bird: 1
Love, Simon: 1

NOMINATION COUNT BY SHOW
Stranger Things: 6
Riverdale: 3
Game of Thrones: 3
13 Reasons Why: 2
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story: 1
Black Mirror: 1
The Flash: 1
grown-ish: 1
Insecure: 1
Jane the Virgin: 1
Legion: 1
Schitt’s Creek: 1
SNL: 1

NOMINATION COUNT BY STUDIO
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures: 15
Warner Bros. Pictures: 10
Universal Pictures: 4
Columbia Pictures: 2
A24: 1
20th Century Fox: 1
Paramount Pictures: 1
Sony Pictures Classics: 1
STX Entertainment: 1
TriStar Productions: 1

NOMINATION COUNT BY NETWORK/PLATFORM
Netflix: 10
HBO: 5
The CW: 5
Bravo: 2
FX: 2
VH1: 2
Live Nation Productions: 2
Apple Music: 1
E!: 1
Freeform: 1
NBC: 1
Pop: 1
YouTube Red: 1
Tidal: 1