There has been an awakening...at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards. J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" led all candidates with a total of 11 nominations, it was announced Tuesday morning. Most important is the long-awaited sequel's nod for best movie of the year, where it will compete against "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Creed," "Deadpool," "Jurassic World" and "Straight Outta Compton."
But "The Force Awakens" isn't just a rollicking good time, it's also a great showcase for diversity. Star Daisy Ridley is up for best female performance and best breakthrough performance along with her co-star John Boyega. The latter also received a nod for best action performance. Ridley was also nominated for best hero with Adam Driver naturally earning a best villain nomination. Motion capture maestro Andy Serkis, along with Lupita Nyong'o, were both recognized for their work with best virtual performance nominations. Finally, Rey and Kylo Ren's lightsaber duel was recognized as one of the best fights of the year and the entire team got a best ensemble nod.
Surprise hit "Deadpool," the foul-mouthed hard R-rated superhero movie that has been dominating the box office for almost a month, scored the second-most nominations with eight. "Deadpool" scored a nod for: movie of the year, best female performance (Morena Baccarin), best male performance (Ryan Reynolds), best comedic performance (Reynolds), best action performance (Reynolds) best villain (Ed Skrein), best kiss (Baccarin and Reynolds) and best fight, for Deadpool and Ajax's (whoops, I meant Francis) final throw down.
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" earned six nominations: movie of the year (despite our own lukewarm reception), best hero (Chris Evans), best villain (James Spader), best virtual performance (Spader, ensemble cast and best fight (Iron Man vs. Hulk...which Iron Man would NEVER win).
A handful of movies received four nominations each: "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Pitch perfect 2," "The Revenant (which also got a best fight nom for Leo vs. Bear)," and "Trainwreck." "Jurassic World," "Straight Outta Compton," and "The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part II" all scored three nominations.
"What has always been so cool about the MTV Movie Awards is that it's about blockbuster movies that audiences line up to see; comedies, superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, action," Casey Patterson, executive producer, said. "This show is about fandom and the stars come out to celebrate that. The nominees and the content are naturally diverse and eclectic because we're a true reflection of real movie-going audience."
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart will co-host the 25th annual MTV Movie Awards, set to air on Sunday, April 10 at 8 pm in Burbank, Calif.
