Zendaya and 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Dominate 2026 Kids' Choice Awards

The 2026 Kids' Choice Awards delivered a decisive verdict from young audiences on Saturday night, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and its two leads claiming the evening's most coveted film honors. The ceremony, held at Television City in Los Angeles and hosted by Alex Warren, marked a notable broadcast milestone as it aired simultaneously on CBS and Nickelodeon for the first time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Zendaya Earns Favorite Movie Actress

For Zendaya, the orange blimp statuette for favorite movie actress represents a meaningful measure of her sustained cultural reach — particularly with the younger demographic that has followed her trajectory from Disney Channel to prestige drama and now back to the blockbuster franchise that helped define her mainstream arrival. Her reprisal of MJ in Spider-Man: Brand New Day placed her at the center of one of the season's most anticipated superhero releases, and the fan vote here underscores just how deeply audiences have invested in that character. She bested a formidable field that included Anne Hathaway, Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, and Cynthia Erivo, among others.

It's a career moment that feels particularly resonant given how expansively Zendaya has been operating across different creative registers of late. Beyond the Spider-Man universe, she has been generating considerable attention for her work on The Odyssey — from her goddess-like appearance at the New York City premiere to the all-white couture arc that defined her press tour — demonstrating a performer who understands how to inhabit a role both on screen and in the broader cultural conversation surrounding a film.

'Brand New Day' Sweeps the Top Film Category

Tom Holland claimed the matching favorite movie actor prize for his work as Peter Parker, edging out a lineup that included Ryan Gosling, Dwayne Johnson, Adam Sandler, and David Corenswet. That Spider-Man: Brand New Day also took home the top prize for favorite movie — over strong competition from Wicked: For Good, Moana, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Lilo & Stitch — signals that the franchise retains its remarkable grip on family audiences even as the superhero genre has faced mounting scrutiny about audience fatigue. The two leads' chemistry, which has long been part of the series' appeal and extends well beyond the screen, clearly continues to resonate. Holland himself has spoken candidly about how the two navigate their overlapping professional worlds, as evidenced in his recent playful remarks about their respective Odyssey characters.

Sadie Sink, who appears in Brand New Day as Jean Grey, also took the night's favorite villain award, giving the film a third statuette and cementing its standing as the ceremony's dominant cinematic force.

BTS and Other Highlights

Outside of film, BTS made a commanding sweep of the music categories, claiming favorite music group or duo, favorite song for "Swim," and favorite album for Arirang — three trophies that affirm the group's enduring connection with a global youth fanbase. Chris Pratt received the evening's King of Comedy Award, an honorary distinction separate from the competitive categories.

This year's show, officially titled CBS Presents Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, ran from 8 to 9:30 p.m. ET and was also available to Paramount+ Premium subscribers via live stream. Producers introduced three new competitive categories this cycle: watch party: kids' choice, favorite onscreen duo/trio, and favorite clutch player of the year — an expansion that reflects the award show's ongoing effort to stay attuned to how younger audiences actually consume and discuss entertainment. The event was produced by Done + Dusted.

For Zendaya, an artist who has always seemed to operate several steps ahead of the moment, the Kids' Choice win is both a fan affirmation and a reminder that her foundation with popular audiences remains as solid as ever.