MTV Movie Awards: The Force Is with TFA

The MTV Movie Awards delivered some major recognition to The Force Awakens over the weekend, bringing some eleventh-hour vindication for an otherwise disappointing awards season for Episode VII. JJ Abrams and Daisy Ridley were there to accept the award for Best Movie, which I previously thought was sort of a long shot given the very crowded field of nominees. As it turned out, the Best True Story category and the Generation Award gave fans an opportunity to express support for the high profile casualties of #OscarsSoWhite, Straight Outta Compton and Will Smith. And the other awards were nicely distributed without any one film making a total sweep (I'm looking at you, Ms. Furiosa), so the awards presentations felt much more democratic and diverse than the Oscars.

Adam Driver did not attend the boisterous MTV awards ceremony to accept his award for Best Villain. But Daisy Ridley was her charming, sincere self as she accepted her very well-deserved Best Breakthrough Performance award. Her acceptance speech was divine:

"It feels especially amazing to be part of a film that represents people of all genders--two genders--all races, and all ages in such a positive and aspirational way."

I love that she clarified with a wink that Ep. VII portrays only two genders, correcting herself to acknowledge that even such an inclusive cast of characters still has room to grow when it comes to gender identity.

Awards aside, Sunday's broadcast was otherwise a major event for geekdom. Jared Leto, Margot Robie, Will Smith, and Cara Delevingne introduced a premiere of the newest Suicide Squad trailer, which was eeppppicccccc.

If anything can justify the dark and gritty tone that DC has established for its film universe, this can. As a long-time fan of Super Friends: fingers crossed.

And--YAY!--Harley Quinn has her hammer!

We also were treated to exclusive footage from Captain America: Civil War, introduced by my other husband, Chris Evans. The Avengers have assembled and are kicking ass as a well-oiled machine in this clip. Looks like Black Widow's and Cap's training that began in the closing shots of Age of Ultron has borne some very explosive and telekinetic fruit: "Just like we practiced."

The evening was wrapped up with the world premiere of the teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan, but with the glorious Eddie Redmayne starring, I might have to check it out.

Throw in a bunch of the Deadpool dancers, Chris Pratt being gracious and adorable accepting an award for the action sequence in Jurassic World, and a pantsless Alexander Skarsgard, and it was a spectacle that was right up my gay fanboy alley. The recognition for The Force Awakens as the fans' pick for the year's Best Movie was a crowning moment for this awards season.

Did I mention the pantsless Alexander Skarsgard? Because that definitely happened.