Daemon Targaryen nominated for Best Villain at Critics Choice Super Awards

The full list of nominations for the third annual Critics Choice Super Awards, which honor the best in genre film and TV, have been released. HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon has nabbed four nominations for its first season, including:

• Best Science Fiction/ Fantasy Series
• Best Actor in a Science Fiction/ Fantasy Series: Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen
• Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series: Milly Alcock as Young Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Best Villain in a series: Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen

It’s nice to see Milly Alcock get recognition for her work, as she was one of the great surprises from season 1. Nobody knew exactly how switching actors for a major character like Rhaenrya Targaryen would work out ahead of time, but the transition to Emma D’Arcy as the older version of Rhaenyra was pretty seamless thanks in large part to the actors’ incredible performances.

It’s curious that Daemon, one of the main protagonists of the show, is nominated in the villain category. One could argue that there is no clear-cut villain on the show, as everybody is fairly grey morally. I think the only character who could be considered the main character is Rhaenyra, Daemon’s wife.

In any case, Matt Smith is certainly deserving of praise for his portrayal of Daemon, as he does a wonderful job making us sympathize with his character even though he does some pretty disgusting things.

Is Daemon Targaryen a villain on House of the Dragon? (Beware SPOILERS)

Daemon does some awful things. He grooms his niece Rhaenyra from a very young age, he murders his first wife Rhea Royce, later has a moment where where he strangles his wife Rhaenyra, and he is doing everything he can to push for a war with the Greens. And if George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood is anything to go off, some of Daemon’s worst acts are yet to come.

As the war escalates and Rhaenrya begins to look like the victor, Daemon urges her to exterminate the houses that fought against them, like the Baratheons, Hightowers and Lannisters. In addition to advocating mass murder, Daemon also cheats on Rhaenyra pretty consistently.

He also does some things that really help Rhaenyra, some of which are too epic to spoil. He’s a complicated character, but does enough villainous things to earn him a spot on this list of nominations.

Full list of Critics Choice Super Nominations

Check out the full list of nominees below:

Best Action Movie

• Bullet Train
• RRR
• Top Gun: Maverick
• The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
• The Woman King

Best Actor in an Action Movie

• Nicolas Cage – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
• Ram Charan – RRR
• Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick
• Brad Pitt – Bullet Train
• N.T. Rama Rao Jr. – RRR

Best Actress in an Action Movie

• Sandra Bullock – The Lost City
• Jennifer Connelly – Top Gun: Maverick
• Viola Davis – The Woman King
• Joey King – Bullet Train
• Joey King – The Princess

Best Superhero Movie

• The Batman
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• DC League of Super-Pets
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Thor: Love and Thunder

Best Actor in a Superhero Movie

• Benedict Cumberbatch – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Paul Dano – The Batman
• Colin Farrell – The Batman
• Tenoch Huerta – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Robert Pattinson – The Batman

Best Actress in a Superhero Movie

• Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Zoë Kravitz – The Batman
• Elizabeth Olsen – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Natalie Portman – Thor: Love and Thunder
• Letitia Wright – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Horror Movie

• Barbarian
• The Black Phone
• Pearl
• Smile
• Speak No Evil
• X

Best Actor in a Horror Movie

• Ethan Hawke – The Black Phone
• Fedja van Huêt – Speak No Evil
• Ralph Fiennes – The Menu
• Rory Kinnear – Men
• Justin Long – Barbarian

Best Actress in a Horror Movie

• Jessie Buckley – Men
• Aisha Dee – Sissy
• Anna Diop – Nanny
• Mia Goth – Pearl
• Rebecca Hall – Resurrection

Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie

• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Nope
• The Northman

Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie

• Colin Farrell – After Yang
• Daniel Kaluuya – Nope
• Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Ryan Reynolds – The Adam Project
• Alexander Skarsgård – The Northman

Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie

• Karen Gillan – Dual
• Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Amber Midthunder – Prey
• Keke Palmer – Nope
• Zoe Saldana – Avatar: The Way of Water
• Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Villain in a Movie

• Paul Dano – The Batman
• Mia Goth – Pearl
• Tenoch Huerta – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Joey King – Bullet Train
• Elizabeth Olsen – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Mark Rylance – Bones and All

Best Action Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• 9-1-1
• Cobra Kai
• Kung Fu
• Reacher
• Tulsa King
• Vikings: Valhalla

Best Actor in an Action Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Kevin Costner – Yellowstone
• John Krasinski – Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
• Ralph Macchio – Cobra Kai
• Alan Ritchson – Reacher
• Sylvester Stallone – Tulsa King
• William Zabka – Cobra Kai

Best Actress in an Action Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Angela Bassett – 9-1-1
• Queen Latifah – The Equalizer
• Olivia Liang – Kung Fu
• Katherine McNamara – Walker: Independence
• Helen Mirren – 1923
• Kelly Reilly – Yellowstone 

Best Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• The Boys
• Doom Patrol
• Ms. Marvel
• Peacemaker
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
• Werewolf by Night 

Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• John Cena – Peacemaker
• Brendan Fraser – Doom Patrol
• Grant Gustin – The Flash
• Oscar Isaac – Moon Knight
• Elliot Page – The Umbrella Academy
• Antony Starr – The Boys

Best Actress in a Superhero Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Danielle Brooks – Peacemaker
• Michelle Gomez – Doom Patrol
• Caity Lotz – Legends of Tomorrow
• Tatiana Maslany – She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
• Erin Moriarty – The Boys
• Iman Vellani – Ms. Marvel 

Best Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire
• Chucky
• Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story 
• Evil
• The Walking Dead
• Wednesday
• What We Do in the Shadows 

Best Actor in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Jacob Anderson – Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire
• Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows
• Mike Colter – Evil
• Harvey Guillén – What We Do in the Shadows
• Evan Peters – Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
• Sam Reid – Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire 

Best Actress in a Horror Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Jennifer Coolidge – The Watcher
• Natasia Demetriou – What We Do in the Shadows
• Katja Herbers – Evil
• Niecy Nash-Betts – Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story 
• Jenna Ortega – Wednesday
• Christina Ricci – Wednesday

Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Andor
• For All Mankind
• House of the Dragon
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Stranger Things 

Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Chiwetel Ejiofor – The Man Who Fell to Earth
• Samuel L. Jackson – The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
• Diego Luna – Andor
• Anson Mount – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Adam Scott – Severance
• Matt Smith – House of the Dragon 

Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie

• Milly Alcock – House of the Dragon
• Patricia Arquette – Severance
• Morfydd Clark – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
• Moses Ingram – Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Fiona Shaw – Andor
• Sissy Spacek – Night Sky 

Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series of Made-for-TV Movie

• Ethan Hawke – Moon Knight
• Brad Dourif – Chucky
• Matt Smith – House of the Dragon
• Hayden Christensen – Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Antony Starr – The Boys
• Michael Emerson – EvilJamie Campbell Bower – Stranger Things
• Harriet Sansom Harris – Werewolf By Night 

The winners of the Critics Choice Super Awards will be announced on March 16.

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