Rege-Jean Page, Chadwick Boseman and Elizabeth Olsen were among the winners at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
The fan-voted ceremony took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, complete with an in-person audience after taking a year off due to the pandemic.
Netflix teen romance film To All The Boys: Always And Forever won best movie while Disney+ Marvel hit WandaVision was named best show.
In the gender-neutral individual categories, Page won the golden popcorn trophy for best breakthrough performance in recognition of his portrayal of a dashing duke in Netflix’s raunchy romance drama Bridgerton.
In his video acceptance speech, the British star, who is tipped to be the next James Bond, said: “We wanted everyone to know they deserve love stories, they deserve happily ever afters, no matter who they are, no matter where they’re from, no matter when they’re from.
“And awards like this, voted for by you, let us know that you took those stories close to your hearts.”
Boseman, who died last year aged 43 following a four-year battle with colon cancer, won best performance in a movie for his final film role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Olsen won best performance in a show for playing the Scarlet Witch in WandaVision.
She paid tribute to fans of the show and said: “I hope we moved you, I hope we entertained you.”
Olsen returned to the stage with WandaVision co-star Kathryn Hahn to pick up the prize for best fight, while Hahn also won best villain for playing Agatha Harkness.
Best kiss, one of the ceremony’s best known categories, was won by real-life couple Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline for their embrace in teen drama Outer Banks.
The first award of the night, best hero, went to Anthony Mackie for Marvel series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Clutching the golden popcorn trophy, Mackie – who played a black Captain America – praised his castmates before nodding to a traumatic year, describing the last 12 months as “a very hard experience”.
He added: “But we’ve got through it and we’re stronger for it.”
The golden popcorn for Best Performance in a Movie goes to @chadwickboseman for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom! #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/OcWATU3Ww5
— Movie & TV Awards (@MTVAwards) May 17, 2021
Mackie was another double winner after he and co-star Sebastian Stan were named best duo.
Tom Hiddleston made an appearance during the ceremony and shared an exclusive look at Disney+ miniseries Loki, which is due to premiere next month.
Two honorary awards were handed out.
Sacha Baron Cohen revived some of his best known creations while accepting the comedic genius award.
The British star appeared as Borat, Ali G, Bruno and Admiral General Aladeen to poke fun at the outdated nature of some aspects of the characters.
“I is the original gangster,” Baron Cohen said while dressed in Ali G’s distinctive yellow tracksuit top.
Ali G, the suburban wannabe gangster who brought Baron Cohen widespread acclaim in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was soon confronted by his creator.
“You’re a white suburban kid who is co-opting black culture,” Baron Cohen said, as digital trickery showed him confronting himself.
He joked he was cancelling himself, before calling Bruno – a gay Austrian fashion journalist and star of his own 2009 film – a “caricature”.
Scarlett Johansson was this year’s recipient of the generation award and was covered in slime by husband Colin Jost as she accepted the honour.
The actress, whose films include Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit and the Marvel movies, dedicated the honour to those she had worked with over her career.
The ceremony also featured A-list cameos from stars including Henry Golding, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mandy Moore.
A second event honouring reality TV – MTV Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED – is set to take place 24 hours after the main show.