Two Marvel movies win superhero categories at the Critics Choice Super Awards for Superhero Day

Happy National Superhero Day! I closed PBS Terra explains 'How Big Business Broke Recycling (And Blamed You)' with a program note and a question.

Stay tuned for a Sunday entertainment feature for National Superhero Day. Superhero winners at the Critics Choice Super Awards Super Awards, anyone?

Since no one objected or proposed another topic, I'm revisiting what I wrote in 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning' and 'The Last of Us' lead nominees at the fourth Critics Choice Super Awards.

This category sets up a matchup between the winner of Best Animated Film and Best Superhero Film at the Saturn Awards, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3. Since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at the main [Critics' Choice] awards, I'm predicting it to win here.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won Best Superhero Movie. I called it! Also, congratulations to the producers, directors, cast, and crew of the movie. To see the acceptance speech, watch SUPER AWARDS "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" WINS Best Super Hero Movie!


I hedged my bets on the next category.

This is a really talented field, but I think the advantage goes to Ayo Edebiri, who swept Critics' Choice, Golden Globes, and Emmys for her role in The Bear. I think that might count for something, even though I'm rooting for Zoe Saldana or Iman Vellani and wouldn't be surprised if Hailee Steinfeld wins as part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.

I'm pleased to see that Iman Vellani won. While The Marvels didn't earn a nomination for Best Superhero Movie, it didn't walk away empty-handed. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing Vellani on my Saturn Awards ballot later this year for Best Younger Performer in a Film and The Marvels for Best Superhero Film.


I expressed both my uncertainty and my annoyance about the last "superhero" movie category.

The parenthetical comment that "Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, as Taron Edgerton earned a nomination for Tetris, which is a thriller about the development of Tetris taking place in the real world, not an adventure in the game world, and The Killer is based on a graphic novel, something I didn't know until I looked it up. Both Edgerton and Fassbender are great actors, and Saturn Award winner Xolo Maridueña should be happy to be nominated along with them. My favorite is Bradley Cooper, and I hope he wins, but I wouldn't be surprised by any of the field winning, including Shameik Moore, who might be part of a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sweep.

I'm not surprised to see Fassbender win. As I wrote, he's a great actor. He's also a former Marvel actor, having played young Magneto in the later Fox X-Men movies, so there is still a connection to the two actual Marvel winners.

Follow over the jump for the "superhero" winners on television.


Here's the relevant paragraph from the press release.

“The Last of Us” was the standout among this year’s television winners, taking home trophies in all seven of its nominated categories. In fact it swept all three awards in two genres, Superhero and Horror (the Superhero categories include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series). “The Last of Us” scored wins for both Best Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie, and Best Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. Pedro Pascal was awarded both Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie, and Best Actor in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. And Bella Ramsey likewise won Best Actress in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie, as well as Best Actress in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie. Melanie Lynskey also took home Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie.

I'm quoting Television nominees at the Critics Choice Super Awards to show that I'm not surprised by any of those wins.

The two leading nominees are The Last of Us with seven nominations and The Fall of the House of Usher with six nominations. The Last of Us leads television nominees because "the parenthetical comment that 'Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, resulting in duplicate nominations for show, actor, and actress. Without that, The Last of Us would have only four nominations, but The Fall of the House of Usher would still have all six. Just the same, I think The Last of Us has the advantage, as it had three nominations at the main Critics' Choice Awards for Drama Series, Actor in a Drama Series, and Actress in a Drama Series, while The Fall of the House of Usher only had two for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television, only one of whom earned a nomination for Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie.
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Superman & Lois may have won the equivalent Saturn Award, but I don't think it will win here because it's competing against Loki and The Last of Us. I plan on voting for Loki at the next Saturn Awards, but I think The Last of Us will be more likely to win. Again, "Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series" is having a major effect. This includes Ahsoka, as the title character has appeared in a lot of Star Wars video games.
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Carla Gugino and Melanie Lynskey also have nominations for Best Actress in a Horror Series, so I think they're favored. Mary McDonnell may have a Critics' Choice Awards nomination for this role, so the CCA likes her, but her role isn't as big as Gugino's and she isn't as scary.

The Last of Us shut out the actual superhero shows. So long as the CCA maintains that "Superhero categories also include Comic Book and Video Game Inspired series," this will be an issue, as I expect Fallout will be serious competition for true superhero shows like Superman & Lois and The Boys next year in addition to being a leading nominee for Science Fiction/Fantasy TV Series.

I mentioned that "Melanie Lynskey took home Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie in The Last of Us" in 'Star Trek: Discovery' trailers for First Contact Day, so I'm sharing her acceptance speech, SUPER AWARDS Melanie Lynskey WINS Best Villain for “The Last of Us.”


I've been wondering what she sounds like speaking with her natural New Zealand accent. She sounds much sweeter than her characters speaking in their American accents. Congratulations!

The best actor here is Emmy nominee Pedro Pascal and I'm pretty sure he'll win, although Bruce Greenwood might give him a run for his money.
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Pedro Pascal may win this award as well, but Tom Hiddleston won Best Actor in a Superhero Series two years ago. I know the CCA likes him and electorates matter.
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Emmy nominee Bella Ramsey is my choice here, although Melanie Lynskey or Carla Gugino could upset her.
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I think this is between Michelle Yeoh and Bella Ramsey with Rosario Dawson as a spoiler.

Congratulations to Pascal and Ramsey! You both deserved your double wins. That written, I'm looking forward to seeing Tom Hiddleston and Rosario Dawson along with Loki and Ahsoka on the next Saturn Awards ballot, where they won't have to compete against Pascal, Ramsey, and The Last of Us.

That concludes this week's Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned for an evergreen video post tomorrow.