Avengers dominates MTV awards as Brie Larson honours stunt doubles

Box office-busting Avengers: Endgame dominated the MTV Movie and TV Awards Monday, as Captain Marvel star Brie Larson led tributes to real-life heroines by ceding the spotlight to her stunt doubles.

Endgame, the second-highest grossing film of all time, picked up the best movie award, as well as best hero for Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and best villain for Josh Brolin as Thanos.

Oscar-winner Larson added to the superheroes' haul by picking up the best fight award, praising her stunt workers as the "living embodiment of Captain Marvel" as she brought them up on stage.

Joanna Bennett and Renae Moneymaker, who also trained Larson for the first female-led Marvel Studios/Disney superhero film, said it was an "honour" to work on the film and "be a part of bringing such a strong female character to life."

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A wide-ranging awards show also paid tribute to women beyond Hollywood such as trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the subject of documentary RBG, who won a new category for best real-life hero.

And in the evening's most poignant moment, victims of sexual abuse were honoured by the producers of Surviving R. Kelly, which won best documentary.

"Survivors walked through the fire and then stood again to tell this story," said Lifetime network executive Brie Miranda Bryant.

The docu-series has led Chicago prosecutors to publicly seek out potential victims of R&B star Kelly, who has pleaded not guilty to felony sex crime charges.

"This isn't just a trophy to us because this really speaks to the important cultural impact that this generated from this documentary," Bryant added.

Newcomer Noah Centineo was the night's biggest individual winner, scooping awards for breakthrough performance and best kiss alongside Lana Condor for Netflix teen romance film To All The Boys I've Loved Before.

But it was a disappointing night for Game of Thrones, which won best show but lost out in three other categories.

The epic fantasy's final season was widely panned by critics and audiences.

The MTV Movie and TV Awards have been taking a sideways look at Hollywood since 1992, honouring films and their actors with "golden popcorn" statuettes.

The nominees are decided by producers and MTV executives, while the winners are chosen by the public, who vote online.

As a result, the awards have historically recognised commercial favourites, in contrast to the Oscars and other events based on critical or industry acclaim.

This year it added off-beat new categories for "most meme-able moment" and "reality royalty."

It also gave non-competitive awards to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jada Pinkett Smith.

For the second year running, the show was pre-recorded on Saturday in a cavernous hangar at Santa Monica Airport in southern California.

Here is the full list of winners:

BEST MOVIE: Avengers: Endgame

BEST SHOW: Game of Thrones

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE: Lady Gaga - A Star Is Born

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW: Elisabeth Moss - The Handmaid's Tale

BEST HERO: Robert Downey Jr. - Avengers: Endgame

BEST VILLAIN: Josh Brolin - Avengers: Endgame

BEST KISS: Noah Centineo & Lana Condor - To All the Boys I've Loved Before

REALITY ROYALTY: Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE: Daniel Levy - Schitt's Creek

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Noah Centineo - To All the Boys I've Loved Before

BEST FIGHT: Captain Marvel vs. Minn-Erva - Captain Marvel

BEST REAL-LIFE HERO: Ruth Bader Ginsburg - RBG

MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE: Sandra Bullock - Bird Box

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Surviving R. Kelly

BEST HOST: Nick Cannon - Wild 'n Out

MOST MEME-ABLE MOMENT: Colton Underwood jumps the fence - The Bachelor

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT: Shallow - A Star Is Born