Marvel movies and series sweep superhero categories at the Critics Choice Super Awards

I wrote "I might cover the winners of the Critics Choice Super Awards on the 19th, as they will be announced in the 17th" at the end of 'Shang-Chi' vs. 'Spider-Man' among movie nominees at the 2022 Critics Choice Super Awards. It's time to follow through with the winners and a post-mortem on my predictions. First, the relevant passages from the press release by the Critics Choice Association (CCA).

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” led the film winners this year, garnering three awards overall. The film was awarded Best Superhero Movie, while Andrew Garfield took the prize for Best Actor in a Superhero Movie, and Willem Dafoe won Best Villain in a Movie.

Watch Sony producer Amy Pascal accepting the award in Best Superhero Movie - Spider-Man: No Way Home.


Best Superhero Movie - Amy Pascal accepting for Spider-Man: No Way Home
I more than half-expected this happening.

Even without tallying the nominations, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” are my co-favorites for winning this award. I might lean to "Shang-Chi" if I were a voter, but “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is literally the popular choice and the Critics Choice Association (CCA) might just agree...

The critics made the popular choice. While electorates matter, sometimes different electorates will agree.


First, my handicapping.

I can pick Best Actor in a Superhero Movie two ways. For best overall actor, I'd choose Idris Elba and Andrew Garfield. However, this is really best performance by an actor in a superhero movie and I suspect Simu Liu and Tom Holland gave those. I would vote for Liu, but I'm not in the CCA. They might go for Holland or Garfield.

They went with Garfield, who is the better actor between the two Spider-Man nominees.


And now for a category I completely blew.

The same dichotomy applies to Best Actress in a Superhero Movie. I think the best overall best actresses are Margot Robbie, who won for the same role in "Birds of Prey" last year, Michelle Yeoh, and Emmy winner Zendaya. For the best performances, I'd say it's between Robbie and Zendaya. I'd vote for Robbie, but if there is a wave for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," it will sweep Zendaya to the podium.

There was a wave for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," but it didn't sweep Zendaya onto the virtual platform. Instead, Florence Pugh won. This is one case where I'm not unhappy about being wrong. The "Black Widow" movie did a great job of setting Pugh up to be the next Black Widow, which she has already played in "Hawkeye."

On the other hand, the wave did wash the next winner into the winners circle, much to my surprise.


I blew this one, too.

The scariest nominee for Best Villain in a Movie was the evil conjoined twin in "Malignant." It made for a terrifying monster. Still, that's not the kind of performance I expect the critics to vote for. Instead, I expect it will be between Idris Elba and Tony Leung, both of whom have nominations for best actor. I'd choose Leung only because that other nomination is for the same role, while Elba's isn't.

I guess Willem Dafoe really was a better villain than the people who were nominated for their overall acting.

Now for the superhero TV winners.

“Squid Game” and “WandaVision” tied for most series wins, earning three awards each. “Squid Game” swept the Action Series categories, with Lee Jung-jae winning Best Actor in an Action Series, HoYeon Jung winning Best Actress in an Action Series, and the show taking home the Best Action Series award. “WandaVision” was named Best Superhero Series, and Elizabeth Olsen was awarded Best Actress in a Superhero Series, while her co-star Kathryn Hahn won Best Villain in a Series.

Not surprised by any of these wins, so here are the Twitter graphics announcing Olsen's and Hahn's wins.



Hahn also sent in an acceptance speech video.


Best Villain In a Series - Kathryn Hahn for WandaVision
Hahn managed to be hilarious in victory, too.


In addition, Tom Hiddleston won Best Actor in a Superhero Series, making it a sweep for Marvel in the superhero series categories as well. I'm leading this section with his acceptance speech.


Best Actor in a Super Hero Series - Tom Hiddleston for Loki
Congratulations to all the winners, not only of the Marvel movies and series, but of the rest of the categories. I'd love to write about all of you, but as I've written before, this blog is a hobby and I have work to do. Maybe later, possibly as part of the discussion of the 2022 Saturn Awards, which should be interesting for a number of reasons.

Stay tuned for a post about the Vernal Equinox marking the end of the current blogging year.